Ryan Hart and her family live in Portland, Oregon, and her dad lost his job a while ago. He finally got a new one, but it pays less, and he'll have to work nights. Therefore, they're selling the second car and moving to an (old) new house.

The Harts are an every family – a family with siblings who bicker, parents who don't always get it right, but a family that loves. A family working hard to make it in tough economic times, a family with traditions and culture, a family that tries new things. This is a black family growing up in middle class America.

And Ryan is a girl who has much on her mind – school, family, friends, self- image – but who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks.