After Penny Sue's parents whisk her away from her home and the grandparents she loves, she spends years blaming herself for disrupting the lives of all the adults she knows. Her self-loathing only gets worse when her alcoholic mother lashes out at anyone who tries to help her daughter, and the only way Penny can deal with it all is by keeping songs in her heart. When she finally performs on real stages and adds applause to the other addictions she picked up along the way, it seems even her escape isn't really what she thought it was. This story of music, addictions, and difficult family dynamics spans ages seven through twenty-two in Penny's life.