Seven-year-old Mia is a sweet, sensible girl, but her mother, Melissa, demands she call her "Aunt Melissa" in public to care for a coworker's sick child, Sophie. To support her mother's "selfless love," Mia silently endures having her bed, cup, and mother's affection taken away, marking forty-two "gray stars" on her calendar for every day of heartbreak. When her father, Mark, who works out of town, learns the truth, he quits his job and returns home. Armed with a detailed ledger of Melissa's parental failures, Mark wins sole custody in court. After the divorce, a gentle baker named Claire enters Mia's life. With unconditional love and the acceptance that "crooked carrots are okay too," Claire slowly heals Mia's wounds. When Mia finally replaces the gray stars with suns on her calendar, she not only regains her father's love but also accepts Claire as her true, loving new mom.
