Chapter 1 Summary

Susannah is a 16-year-old girl that recently moved to northern California with her mother from Brooklyn, because her mother remarried her stepfather, Andy Ackerman. Susannah, who goes by Suze for short, has three step-brothers that she has nicknamed Sleepy, Dopey and Doc. It is Suze's first summer living in California. Her stepfather informs all of the children, except the youngest, they either have to get summer jobs or go to summer school. Doc, the youngest, gets to go to computer camp because he got good grades and is too young to work. Dopey failed two of his classes, so he has to go to summer school. Sleepy and Suze get jobs at Pebble Beach Hotel and Golf Resort. Suze is working as a babysitter and as a lifeguard.

In the morning, before leaving for work, Dopey is helping his father build an addition...