In Wisconsin, fourth-grader Ida B spends happy hours being home-schooled and playing in her family's apple orchard, until her mother begins treatment for breast cancer and her parents must sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.
Embarking on a field trip to an apple-picking farm, Nancy enjoys the fancy autumn colors she observes in the orchard and resolves to find a perfect Gala apple for her father but fears the fruit of her choice is too far out of reach.