Delorie leaves the battleground of her parents small-town home for the big city, another 19-year-old with dreams of what her life might be. But life turns out to have plans of a very different kind, including unwed motherhood. Del's response is to renounce her right to her daughter, and her right to indulge in sentiment over her fate. She lives her emotional life by proxy, investing what feelings she allows herself in Detroit news stories on cable TV. She can handle drama, if it s half a continent away.