Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now age eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac, Colonel, owner of a cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.
Fifteen-year-old Colie, a former fat girl, spends the summer working as a waitress in a beachside restaurant, staying with her overweight and eccentric Aunt Mira, and trying to explore her sense of self.