Vada Sultenfuss is a typical 11 year old girl who has to learn to face her fears and get on with lfe even when bad things happen. She lives in a funeral parlor and has a boy (Thomas J.) for a best friend. Her mother is dead and she only has a father. Living in a funeral parlor for all her life, Vada keeps thinking she has cancer and is going to die, and her father could care less about this issue. One day Shelly comes in and ends up working for Vada's dad. Their marriage takes Vada by surprise, and when her best friend gets stung by bees she learns to cope with Shelly even though she doesn't have her best friend to always ride bikes and play with her anymore.