In 1904, twelve-year-old Orphelia follows her dream by running away from home to join an all-black minstrel show headed for the Saint Louis World's Fair, and learns about her family's troubled past in the process.
While helping restore the cemetery of the old Baptist church, eleven-year-old Raisin solves the mystery surrounding the founding of her home town and gains pride in her family's past.
Twelve-year-old Margie and her younger cousin forget their boredom when Margie's father entertains them with stories about people and events in their small Missouri town's past.