Vada Sultenfuss has a holiday coming up, and an assignment to do an essay on someone she admires and has never met. She decides she wants to do it on her mother, but she quickly realizes that she knows very little about her. She manages to get her father to agree to let her go to Los Angeles to stay with her Uncle Phil and do some research on her mother. Once there, she finds herself under the protection of Uncle Phil's girlfriend's son, Nick, who at first is very annoyed at losing his holidays to escort a hick girl around town. However, he soon becomes more involved in the difficult search.—Liz Jordan