January got as far as the gate, then stood to one side and watched the other passengers stream past. They all seemed to know where they were going . . . World War II is over, and it's the season for beginnings in New York City. Among the new arrivals in the big city is a sixteen-year-old kid from Texas, January Welles. She is chasing her dream to become an actress, hoping to study with the great Oleknovich. After a rough start, January finds a haven in a house of eccentric residents and is accepted in the fellowship of irreverent drama students. Soon she is caught up in the excitement and promise of post-war Manhattan. Then her new-found world turns upside down and January must again figure out where she is going.