An emotionally crippled woman prostitutes herself to help take care of her kid sister who has cystic fibrosis.

After their parents' untimely death in a car accident, Penny struggles to take care of her younger sister Mary, who suffers from an incurable disease. A precocious former poet, Penny has turned to prostitution as a means of support, but Mary is determined to re-ignite a spark of hope in Penny's life by expressing her deepest feelings in her BOOK OF STARS. With the aid of the Professor, who is a friend and neighbor, Mary secretly corresponds on her sister's behalf with a Prisoner, who is inspired by the book of poetry Penny wrote as a young girl. Although Mary's BOOK OF STARS manifests her wishes, it is ultimately Penny who must live out its ending, when Mary passes away. It is the depth of love and trust between two sisters which pulls Penny back from the brink of self-destruction to embrace Mary's legacy -- a sense of magic, light, hope and the promise of tomorrow.—Michael Miner