In the unsettling years after the great Depression and the Second World War, young Ben Warren and his family face a crisis of an uncertain future. Where will home be? His parents are at odds about what that future should be. Their decision to move from a backward rural village to a big city, Pittsburgh, makes possible attending better schools. Ben meets Jack, who becomes his best friend, and the two boys set out on many adventures against a background of a polio epidemic gripping the city. Their challenge is to be really true to themselves as they face adversities, many of which are of their own creation. Jack fears his family will be forced to leave Roslyn Place, a peaceful setting; Ben's family must settle into life in an old house, where they discover that home is "an estate of mind" promising a vital future of hope and joy.