Not only is Turner Buckminster the son of the new minister in a small Maine town he is shunned for playing baseball differently than the local boys. Then he befriends smart and lively Lizzie Bright Griffin a girl from Malaga Island a poor community founded by former slaves. Lizzie shows Turner a new world along the Maine coast from digging clams to rowing a boat next to a whale. When the powerful town elders including Turner’s father decide to drive the people off the island to set up a tourist business Turner stands alone against them. He and Lizzie try to save her community but there’s a terrible price to pay for going against the tide.