Fourteen-year-old Canadian Stella McLeod, whose mother died of breast cancer eight years ago, is trying to make sense of her life. Dad is loving but taciturn about the past, and he has a new girlfriend--down-to-earth Skye, a painter-- whom Stella dislikes. Stella hopes things will improve when the three of them travel to England, where Skye will paint and Stella and her dad will visit their Cornish relatives, including cute cousin Nicholas. But Dad breaks his leg, and Stella is stuck with Skye for a traveling companion. Despite their differences, Stella and Skye get along reasonably well, and when Stella and Nicholas are involved in a dangerous situation, it is Skye who comes to the rescue and who eventually helps Stella become her own person.