When Amy set out to write a novel, and thus establish herself as a writer to be reckoned with, she was faced with a problem. Although most novelists begin semi-autobiographically, her own life in the small town of Crooked River-with its endless cycles of mowing lawns and setting tables-was far too boring. No one could possibly be interested in what she had to say if she were the subject.

That drove Amy to tell a thinly-veiled and largely-invented story about Kalicia, easily the most interesting girl in school. Where Amy lacked substance, Kalicia was bursting with it. That decision to write Kalicia's life meant she had to somehow learn about, or invent, what Kalicia meant to the townspeople.

Pure invention was difficult to accomplish, and realism a bridge too far, and Amy was caught between the Kalicia in her school and the fantastical greenhouse girl she imagined her to be.