Ida Lee Gudgali is a typical fifteen year old high school student and her seventeen year old non-typical sister Mary Ellen. You see, Mary Ellen has a mild form of Autism, so even if Ida Lee loves her beyond the sky and sea, she can't hug her. Mary Ellen hates to be hugged. Mom struggles with her daughter's teen issues when life should be happier, gayer, more fun. . . and Dad? He has no time for all that, at all. He finally abandons the family; as later, does Mom, in search of the youthful life and loves she left behind, leaving all in the hands of Ida Lee. So, Ida Lee and Mary Ellen, find themselves adrift, unprepared, approaching homelessness. On their own, but determined, in spite of the odds of making it.