The year is 1989 and the times, they are a changin’. But not in a way 15-year-old Dunyasha McDougald would like. With the Berlin Wall about to fall and Reagan yelling about the “Evil Empire,” her parents, two dyed-in-the-wool Pinkos, are becoming even more entrenched in their uber-lefty beliefs. This would all be okay with Dunyasha… if it weren’t for one thing: this dutiful daughter has just started at a new high school and a desire to fit in as well as a yearning to understand this glittering thing known as “American pop culture” is winning out. This puts Dunyasha at increasing odds with her dad, Ian, 50s, a modern-day Don Quixote with whom she’s always been close. An idealist with a capital “I,” Ian drives a rusty Russian army vehicle around their very conservative Toronto neighbourhood and has banned all forms of American media from the house. So when Ian decides to throw his hat in the ring and run for election, it only serves to fuel Dunyasha’s anxiety. Will she fit in with the cool kids? Win the affections of Marc, the son of her Dad’s political rival? Or will she die of 1,000 little embarrassments instead?