Lanie Strickland is sixteen in 1956, and for a while the year seems magical.
Shy and unsure of herself, Lanie Strickland is dazzled when Alex Thurlow, one of the most popular boys in her high school, asks her to dance at a New Year's Eve party. She never thought a boy like Alex would even notice her.
A star athlete, Alex is as fast with girls as he is on the football field. She is in love for the first time, never dreaming she could be so happy. Soon they are going steady.
Lanie is able to handle being pushed by her socially ambitious mother. But can she resist pushing from Alex after he tells her that he loves her?
His actions say something else, just as the Stricklands' house on Giffort Street suggests that they have money when they can barely afford to live there.
