Tommy, a boy growing up in the early nineteen hundreds in northern Wisconsin, lives in hopeless poverty, and is abandoned by his abusive “father” and taken in by a Christian couple with three young children. His situation improves, but Tommy and his new friend, Eric, have a series of harrowing adventures ranging from the northern woods of Wisconsin to the bustling city of Chicago and hopefully back again. The boys’ adventures include train rides, kidnapping, rescue attempts, horse rides, a blizzard, thin ice, and more. Will Tommy ever be able to return to his new, loving family, or is he destined to go back to his previous, miserable life with a scoundrel?