Alice McKinley, Alyson Stoner, is an 11-year-old girl navigating the tangled mix of loss, change, and the early challenges of friendship. Her mother died when she was very young, a shadow that colors her days as she begins a new chapter with her brother Lester McKinley and her father Ben McKinley after the family moves into a fresh house. Soon enough, they meet their new neighbors: a girl named Elizabeth, Parker McKenna Posey, who becomes a friend, and Elizabeth’s mother, setting the stage for the social currents that will shape Alice’s days.
On the very next morning, Alice accompanies Elizabeth to school and encounters a boy named Patrick, Dylan McLaughlin, whom she has already met in a humorous, embarrassing moment in a dressing room some days before. The school day unfolds with the search for teachers, and Alice hopes for a spot in the class led by Miss Cole, Ashley Eckstein, a teacher whose stern exterior hides a more caring heart. Instead, she lands in Mrs. Plotkin’s classroom, Penny Marshall a figure who seems strict but who gradually reveals a gentler side.
The school play becomes a turning point. Alice auditions for a princess role but is deemed tone-deaf in songs, even though her father is a musician in the family. The coveted part goes to her arch rival Pamela, Bridgit Mendler, leaving Alice to take the role of a frog. Pamela’s earlier roughness toward Alice hardens the dynamics at school, and Alice finds herself sharing her worries with her dad and her brother. TheyOffer support, yet their responses feel protective but not fully understanding of her ache.
Seeking comfort and connection, Alice tries to orchestrate a little matchmaking of her own—trying to bring her dad closer to Miss Cole’s world—as she searches for a mother figure to replace the one she lost. Her efforts collide with real-life complications when her dad begins dating a new woman, Kelly, Jilanne Klaus, which deepens Alice’s fear that her family’s stability might be shifting again. The idea of her father marrying someone new weighs heavily on her, adding a layer of anxiety to her already fragile sense of home.
During a visit from Aunt Sally, the sister of Alice’s late mother, Ann Dowd and her husband bring a mix of humor and friction that underscores the family’s complicated dynamic. Alice uncovers a video of her mother and feels a pull toward a past she wasn’t prepared to revisit, only to be reprimanded by her father for exploring private memories.
Back at school, something shifts. Alice begins to see Mrs. Plotkin in a warmer light and discovers that Miss Cole may not be as flawless as she first seemed. The film’s culminating night arrives with the play, where Alice accidentally tears down part of the set. The mood sours, and she is told to leave, but Mrs. Plotkin steps in with quiet support to soothe the hurt. In the days that follow, apologies are shared, and Pamela is among those who offer them, signaling a softening in the season of rivalries.
In the end, the once-icy edges between Alice and Pamela melt into a friendship, and Patrick asks Alice out, sparking a hopeful moment that dances between reality and a forthcoming romance. A gentle daydream about a kiss lingers in Alice’s mind, a sign of her growing capacity to dream and connect. The final scene lingers on Lester, who is seen playing with his own band, the Naked Nomads, hinting at a bright, creative future even amid the family’s ongoing changes.
