Niko Petrovich is thrilled when President Nixon finally ends the draft for the Viet Nam War. He is eighteen-years-old and has been classified as “1-A”. Now he can begin to contemplate a very different future. Though his life has instantly improved, it still isn't perfect. Perfect, would be a date with Carissa Johansson, his history teacher’s daughter and the most beautiful girl in the school. Instead of a date with the girl of his dreams, Niko can't even find a date for his senior prom. With a week off for spring break, he just might have time to solve that problem. That is if he doesn’t spend all of his time with his rowdy friends, making a few dollars at his busboy job, or completing his overdue report on long dead, local writer, Louis Adamic. With the help of a defrocked nun, his roguish older cousin, a jaded movie star, and the elderly proprietor of the town’s historic bookstore, he might just solve most of his problems. In 1973, Niko’s hometown of San Pedro, California, looks like a scene from American Graffiti, with low-riders and muscle cars still cruising its streets. Even though the town appears trapped in the past, civic leaders are busy planning for its future. They’ve already gotten rid of the town’s noisy but beloved drag strip, and are now intent on tearing down and redeveloping the city’s historic district. Niko is initially ambivalent, but when he begins to learn about his town's history, the layers of time are peeled away and they reveal a past that is both woeful and inspiring. This changes Niko’s perspective forever. As he begins to focus on his own future, a sense of loss makes him realize the importance of preserving the past.
