When the Dirty Thirties dries up rural America, farmers desert their land and flood to the cities where rooms can be rented, but alleys are free. After July's daddy closes the door behind him and never looks back, July and her mama are forced to survive in those awful alleys. Then July's mama dies and the young girl is tossed into an orphanage. She remembers her mama telling her about a grandpa and grandma she has never met. Now July is on a train headed for a small town somewhere in Kansas. Will her grandparents take her in as one of their own? And what dangers await her in this strange new place?