Summer 1963: Elvis reigned, The Beach Boys sang of fun in the sun and drive-in movies ruled. 13-year-old Jo Thompson travels from Brooklyn to spend the summer with her cousins on a farm in Minnesota. Riding horses, pulling pranks, and getting her first kiss makes it a time to treasure and remember. Summer 1965: A president is dead, Civil-Rights movements are violent and the war in Vietnam has escalated. Her parents have been killed and when she returns to the farm, things have changed here too. A cousin is in serious trouble and the boy she liked has a girlfriend. Jo tries to cope, but her emotions are scattered. She has some very adult decisions to make that will define the woman she will become.