Millicent Torkelson is a single mother raising 5 children. When she finds out the family is broke, she is forced to take in a boarder, much to 14-year-old daughter Dorothy Jane's upset.
Dorothy Jane has always dreamed of her first high school dance. Things don't seem as glorious as thought however, when she isn't able to get a date or a dress.
When Millicent takes a job to earn more money, she leaves the running of the household to Dorothy Jane, who learns the pitfalls and joys of adult responsibilities. Meanwhile, Millicent realizes how much she misses being a part of things.
When Dorothy Jane's racy poem about high school senior neighbor Riley Roberts is published throughout the school and the town, she gets invited to a party hosted by a senior boy.
Dorothy Jane tries to fulfill her lifelong dream of a trip to Paris by winning a French sponsorship. She unfortunately feels that her chances of winning are hindered by the poverty and backwardness of her family.
Millicent invites the new pastor and some other friends over for Thanksgiving Dinner. Dorothy Jane tries to get her to see the pastor as dating potential, but things do not necessarily go as planned.
Boarder Hodges confides to Millicent that he has a granddaughter in Connecticut. Millicent flies his daughter and granddaughter to Pyramid Corners, Oklahoma. He and his daughter talk about the way things are.
The town's newest councilman, a grocery store owner, enters a new ordinance against selling home preserves without a permit, which sends Millicent to jail. Dorothy Jane must come up with a solution or have Kirby in her home every Saturday.
Dorothy Jane doesn't see the point of auditioning for the school play until she learns that her neighbor and so-far-unattainable love interest Riley Roberts will play the lead.
