Author Arlene Fisher Hann tells a compelling, powerful story of one family's triumph over hardship during the Great Depression. Based on events in her own life, Hann chronicles the harsh realities of life in the South during one of the most turbulent periods in American history.

Twelve-year-old Zemma Carter narrates the story of her family as her father leaves a job in El Paso, Texas, to move back to his homestead in the Deep South and become a cotton farmer. With five children, he and his wife are desperate for the enterprise to become a success. Now in her father's hometown of Sebastopol, Mississippi, Zemma meets a new branch of her family tree, and this larger Carter family sticks together through tornadoes, crop failures, and more.

Zemma witnesses both the heartbreaks that hurt her family and the loyalty that strengthens and unites them. She watches as her young uncle feels the tug of first love and begins an enthusiastic search for buried treasure. She is also present when the threat of a serial killer sends the entire town into a panic. Through both sweet and sinister moments, Zemma keeps faith in her family and their unbreakable bonds.