A young elementary school principal grapples with the problems of a small river town just after the Second World War. The Sacramento River plays a major role in this novel. The town's inhabitants: a mixed bag of descendents of the Chinese who built the levees, itinerant "Okies," Japanese farmers just returned from relocation camps and local farmers, have all survived the war, more or less. The future looks wide open. Miss Jean Hardy is nobody's fool, but she has met her match in eleven year old Lionel. Her dream of winning the State Band Competition against larger, richer schools that have uniforms and shiny new instruments unites the town and leads to an unexpected love story and heartwarming consequences.