Aspiring painter Anna Stockard longs for escape. Escape from the anonymous New Jersey town she's grown in, but desperately wants to grow out of. Escape from the disheveled home she shares with her taunting little brother and a defeated lonely mother. Escape from virginity and a woefully predictable life. She scavengers the mailbox daily for a scholarship offer form the prestigious Manhattan art school Cooper Union, convinced that rebellion and adventure is the apprentice to great art. Who better to trot Anna on the wild side than her best friend, the troubled, reckless Brenda. She is the Pied Piper to parties awash in alcohol. Anna and Brenda find romance, risk, and adventure--often coming out on the wrong end of trouble. Ultimately, Anna will learn some of the most difficult and important lessons of her life, and find the threshold of who she wants to be, while realizing that an undecided future lies ahead for her--if she fails to involve herself in directing her own destiny.