Fifteen-year-old Karen, upset by the loss of a boyfriend and her parents rocky marriage, spends a hot summer vacation with her Aunt Augusta, an eccentric English teacher, in a small Midwestern town and learns many things about love, life, and growing up. Although set in the 1950s, readers of any age should be able to identify with Karen's struggle to understand her parents, her unconventional aunt, her troubled new boyfriend, and her own evolving emotions.