Fourteen year old Parri MacDonald, daughter of Penny Parrish and Josh MacDonald, attends private school and is quite lonely. After going to New York and charging an expensive coat to her mother's account, and auditioning for a Broadway show, Parri's parents realize that they haven't been very attentive to their daughter. While Parri is struggling with her problems, her cousin, Davy Parrish, son of Carrol and David Parrish and a victim of polio in his childhood, has difficulty passing the West Point physical.