Sixteen-year-old William Saxton, called Blue, lies awake every night listening to the buzzsaw of his sickly father's lungs and worrying about his mother. Blue writes to Eleanor Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., asking for help, but she doesn't answer. With no more than food from the family icebox and a fishing pole, Blue runs away intending to hop the rails to D.C. where he plans to confront the First Lady. Blue is not prepared for the extent of the journey ahead, where he meets people who will help him, and others who have only their own interests in mind. Faced with hunger and the elements, but equipped with self-determination, Blue succeeds in reaching his destination. But the journey has changed his purpose, and Blue will never be the same.