Extract: This report proposes a conceptual framework for researching key issues relating to rural public facility policy affecting such services as fire protection, water systems, roads, wastewater treatment, hospitals, and others. Information needs are cited which require data collection and research.

High school junior Retta Caldwell finds her life suddenly complicated by two strong and troubling forces, a new highway that threatens to destroy her family's land and the arrival of an enigmatic and secretive boy for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction.