Bridget Flannery and Maureen O’Malley are neighbors, and have been BFFs since they were tiny. They're also nearly identical, with small frames, blonde hair and big almond-shaped green eyes. Both girls take great pride in being cheerleaders (and hate that cheerleaders seem to get no respect). But charismatic Bridget is really the leader of the two, with Maureen happily following along. The two don't keep secrets from each other --- except for a huge one about Danny, Bridget's boyfriend, that Maureen could never tell anyone, regarding an incident between them that was surely a fluke.

On a December drive, everything changes when Bridget and Maureen's car collides with a truck. The girls are hurt so badly that they are unrecognizable. The emergency medical personnel are able to maintain Bridget long enough to get her to the hospital. They don't hold out much hope for poor, broken Maureen, who is in even worse shape than her friend. However, surgeons work on both patients, with Bridget surviving the surgery in a coma after multiple resuscitations. Sadly, Maureen doesn't live.

Meanwhile, the girl in the coma is trying to form thoughts. She can't think clearly. She believes she’s dead, but is puzzled. Isn't heaven supposed to be a beautiful, wonderful place? She hurts everywhere, with pain so bad that she has no words to describe the agony. Bridget's family visits her every day in the Pediatric Care Unit. Her boyfriend, Danny, comes regularly, too. As he sits by her bed, Danny remembers the funeral service for Maureen and is overwhelmed with sorrow. He loves Bridget, but he and Maureen shared a special bond of friendship. And of course there was the one evening they shared --- the one they don't discuss with anyone, ever.

Danny also thinks about how Bridget would hate the way she looks, with her face in stitches, her dirty hair pulled into a ponytail, and parts of her scalp covered in bandages because of the surgery on her head. Bridget's cheek has been rebuilt, and she has many broken bones. The doctors warn her parents that brain damage is inevitable; they aren't sure how much long-term disability she will suffer, but at the least they predict she will have to learn again how to walk and talk and feed herself. The experts also caution them that she may very well not recognize her own family members.

One night, as Danny sits watching over Bridget, something amazing happens. She tries to talk. When Danny encourages her, calling her his pet name "Bridge," she says, "Mo-ruh." Danny is so excited, he shouts. And when Bridget's mother comes running, he tells her that Bridget said "Mother." But in actuality, the girl is telling him that she is not Bridget --- she is Maureen! When the truth comes out, it is, of course, wonderful news for many people yet devastating for others…and attracts a huge media circus.

Maureen's story is based on an actual event involving two young women, a terrible accident and a case of mistaken identity. In the hands of brilliant storyteller Jacquelyn Mitchard, it is a riveting tale of despair and joy, which feels remarkably true to life. In particular, the reactions of the girls' mothers and friends seem pitch-perfect. Readers will root for Maureen as she fights to remake her life in the face of almost insurmountable physical, emotional and social hardships.