Long Island, NY, summer 1961: Preteen Alice follows, from across the street, the glamorous love life of Sheryl, 17, with bowling alley Rick. A friendship develops as Alice helps Sheryl see Rick.

Alice, a ten-year-old girl, looks up to her 17-year-old, wild neighbor across the street. She leads a three-person cheering section as the teenager, named Sheryl, falls in love and has forbidden liaisons with a young man from the bowling alley. Eventually, Alice becomes instrumental, in spite of her parents' alarm, in helping the two lovers to resolve the difficulties of their relationship and run away together. In the process Alice herself becomes more mature.—Warlen Bassham <wcb@zso.dec.com>