Nine-year-old Katie and her four-year-old brother, Tyler, have an emotional summer during which their father considers moving them to Portland and they are surprised by a visit with their mother, a country singer.
Katie endures a challenging spring break during which she is forced to share her bedroom with Claire, her difficult neighbor and classmate, and run a pet-sitting business at the same time.
When her perfectionist classmate and neighbor plans an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner, Katie begins to wonder if the relaxed day she, her father, and her messy little brother usually enjoy means they are not a "real" family.