Beany is delighted when she hears that her dear childhood friend Miggs Carmody has moved back to Denver, but when they meet up again there is a strange wall between them. Is it because Miggs' family has become very wealthy? There is a scene in which a boyfriend shakes Beany and hurts her. It might be important to talk to your daughter about this scene and how wrong the boyfriend is no matter what Beany's faults in the situation were.

After a heart-rending discovery of Norbett spending time with another girl, Beany is delighted to have an opportunity to go away on a road trip to California with her brother Johnny and her little nephew. Tight finances and a favor to a friend cause the trip to become harried with a whole array of fellow-travelers (and a horse). Kindly, motherly Miss Opal doesn't have money, but performs near-miraculous feats of producing food and lodging out of thin air (not to mention her tomato plant in the back seat). Cynthia forces herself upon the group through kind-hearted Johnny.

Beany now sixteen, is a junior and busy with the school paper. More than anything else she wants the editor to pick her to go the school paper convention. Norbett Rhodes has moved to Ohio and suggested that Beany could date others. Devastated at first, Beany has made friends with Andy Kern who thoughtfully likes to keep things light (in the dating department). After promising her nice mother, Beany reluctantly befriends a new girl at school, Dulcie, who is a showoff and very flirtatious with the boys.

This is a charming and engaging story of a Catholic family living in Denver during World War II. The Malones – Beany (13), Johnny (15), Mary Fred (16) and Elizabeth (19) lost their mother several years before the story begins. Their father, Martie, is a respected newspaperman whose column is often assigned reading in the local schools. Mr. Malone is a loving father who frankly explains to his children that he's glad he doesn't have the means to spoil them, as he knows it's better for them to take initiative and responsibility for themselves.