Sumiko is 12 years old and lives with her little brother, cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandfather on their flower farm in California. Life for Sumiko is mostly lonely; she doesn’t have any close friends at school. Today, however, Sumiko’s loneliness may be at an end. She receives a beautiful, embossed invitation to the birthday party of a sixth-grade classmate—a popular girl named Marsha who invited the entire class. When Sumiko gets home from school, she excitedly shares the news of the invite with her little brother, Tak-Tak, as they complete their afternoon chores around the farm. Tak-Tak brushes the family horse, Baba, whom he loves as a friend. Sumiko keeps an eye on him as she heats the bath water and grades the flowers from the farm for the market.

Grading is Sumiko’s special job; it involves quickly identifying the best carnations to be sold at the market. However, Sumiko’s favorite flowers at the farm aren’t the carnations; instead, she loves the fragrance and color variety of the stock. Stock are kusabana or “weedflowers” that grow in the open fields rather than in a greenhouse like the carnations. Sumiko dreams of opening her own flower shop someday.