Anna is a fifteen-year-old girl slouching toward adulthood. And she's had an excruciating year. To top it all off, she's got new stepparents, a new baby brother, and a new school to look forward to in the fall. So, she "borrows" her family's credit card and runs away to LA to crash with her half-sister. But in addition to not being wanted back by her parents, at least not immediately, Anna has to work to pay her way home. Her sister's creepy ex-boyfriend is directing an indie film inspired by girls who come to LA and disappear, literally or metaphorically, and he hires Anna for a seriously macabre research project--to research the murderous Manson girls.