Joann Keller—a teenager prone to idealistic views of the world—doesn't know what to do with her life after school. Her choices are multiple, but she only dreams of traveling the world and doing good. With her parents consent she's allowed to take a year off, to ponder her options. She travels to Italy, to stay with her mysterious aunt, a woman she has met only a few times.

What lies ahead surpasses even Joann's lively imagination.