The main character of the novel is Alpo "Allu" Korva from
Vaasa, who is a 16-year-old boy who has just finished
comprehensive school. He is planning a
summer vacation with his friend Taala. However, the plan goes wrong, because Allu's mother has arranged for him to work in the
hay for the whole of July at her relatives Takkinen family in Torvenkylä,
Himanka. Arriving in Torvenkylä, Allu has no idea how memorable the summer is coming. Allu's companion in the summer is boy named Pasi Rutanen, who has also come to work haying with Takkinen family. Allu gets to know the young people of Torvenkylä, the most central of whom is the girl named Kerttu Hurme. Kerttu is a teenager rebelling against her mother, but also fundamentally a child-loving country girl. Allu falls in love with Kerttu, and that's how the "
Romeo and Juliet" kind story of the country village begins. == Television adaptations ==