Emily Starr is seventeen years old and a high school graduate. The residents of New Moon consider her an adult and allow her more freedom. Emily and Teddy Kent have been friends since childhood, and as Teddy is about to leave for two years to further his education as an artist, Emily believes that their friendship is blossoming into something more. On his last night at home, they vow to think of each other when they see the star Vega of the Lyre. However, during the next two years, Emily grows as a writer and becomes closer to Dean Priest, while Teddy becomes distant as he focuses on building his career. Emily hides her feelings behind pride while she takes a new step in life and goes for a quest.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels with Anne of Green Gables, an orphaned girl, mistakenly sent to a couple, who had intended to adopt a boy. Anne novels made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. Most of her novels were set in Prince Edward Island, and locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site.