Upon her mother's death, Wavie Conley, eleven, must go live with a scheming aunt in the Kentucky town her mother left behind.

Right before Wavie's mother died, she said: Be brave, Wavie B.! You got as much right to a good life as anybody, so find it! But little did Wavie's mom know that events would conspire to bring Wavie back to Conley Hollow, the Appalachian hometown her mother tried to leave behind. Now Wavie's in the clutches of her Aunt Samantha Rose. Life with her revolting cousin Hoyt is no picnic, but there's pleasure in sleeping in her mother's old bed. Can Wavie prevent her aunt from becoming her legal guardian, and find her courage and place in the world?