It is 1954 and Katherine Gale has just turned thirteen, though she likes it when people say she looks older. But no matter what year it is, when you're thirteen, you still don't like cleaning your room, having to sit next to your younger brothers, or go visit your elderly Grandmother. Katherine and her mother, Ruth, are about to do just that.

Grandma Blanch is eighty-four and getting forgetful, so it was decided she has to move soon and Ruth needs help sorting through Grandma's things. Katherine only has younger brothers, so she gets volunteered for the task. What Katherine and her mother don't know is that Grandma Blanch needs more help then they realize, and Katherine, unwittingly, discovers how to do just that. What Katherine doesn't expect is that she gains a new friend in the process.