Motivated by insatiable curiosity and undaunted by rules, young Kate MacCallum entertains herself in a 1950s world without television, computers, cell phones, iPods, iPads, or apps. Captivated by her heroes, Kate envies Huck Finn’s freedom and Amelia Earhart’s independence, and weighs all of her forbidden plans against the stinging pain from her mother’s red belt. Curious, she reads books and body language, questions religion, hypocrisy and authority, learns about murder, incest and decapitation, and pressures her mother to explain shock treatments, vagina, and falsies. When Kate wakes to bloodcurdling screams from the bed next to hers, she discovers a family skeleton; when she wakes to her own terrifying nightmares, she breaks a promise and reveals a horrific secret. After listening to years of hell-and-damnation preachers, and puzzling over unfamiliar stirrings of sexual feelings, Kate reluctantly sets foot on the inescapable path to womanhood, uncertain about the church and God, confused about life and love, but eager to discover the mysteries and freedom of the long-awaited adult world.