At fifteen, Tamara has survived the foster-care system through brains, will and attitude. Now there's high school to get through, along with her teacher's latest community project — volunteering at the local seniors' home. Tamara doubts she can endure either the residents or the smells.

Then she's assigned to Jean Barclay, a cranky, wealthy and frail former schoolteacher. As the two size one another up, they realize each is the key to achieving their own very different goals. Miss Barclay wants to attend an opera in Seattle — a trip doctors insist she's too weak to undertake. Tamara wants to enroll in modeling school in Vancouver — an expense she can't begin to afford. They plan the road trip of a lifetime — but can these two bossy, manipulative women keep from throttling each other before their goals are realized?