For eleven-year-old Jeanne, an unsettling first day in school begins with an innocent gaffe — Radine, a white classmate, is surprised that Jeanne can speak English. Jeanne decides to do her best and absorb rejection by blaming herself for failure, including exclusion from Girl Scouts, a whites-only group run by snooty mothers. Undaunted by the turn-down, Jeanne and Radine become buddies; Radine rebuffs others' racist stares, Jeanne teaches her to twirl a baton. Expertise leads to Jeanne’s acceptance as lead majorette with a Boy Scout drum and bugle corps, supported by a pack of admiring fathers.
Maturation forces a wedge between Jeanne and Ko, who insists that his daughter follow the female ideal of his Old Country youth rather than the American image of the late 1940s. Ruefully, she castigates herself: "I had lost respect for Papa." In the struggle to assert his masculinity, Ko joins Woody in a plan to dry and sell abalone. Initially, the venture seems hopeful, but eventually it goes "to pieces." The failure of the scheme further depletes Ko's sense of manhood as Woody assumes more importance to the family and Ko returns to alcohol, an addiction which shames and troubles Jeanne. The most crushing embarrassment comes at a PTA awards dinner where Ko, overdressed and over-formal, humiliates Jeanne by executing "a slow, deep, Japanese bow from the waist" when she is recognized for her scholastic achievement by the principal.
