High school senior Landon Carter embarks on the road to manhood when a twist of fate makes the Bible-carrying Jamie Sullivan his date for the homecoming dance, and he falls in love with the minister's daughter, not knowing her tragic secret.
Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.