Nine-year-old Miriam has never worn new clothes, nor cut her hair. She believes that sinners must repent, or harm will come to their loved ones. Now thrust into foster care, Miriam must adapt to a new lifestyle. Foster parents Rick and Deanne Fletcher quickly come to love their "new little girl." But soon they encounter the rest of Miriam's family: When her brother Josh's plan to remove Miriam from their home fails, Josh becomes enraged at the interference in his family's Christian way of life. More conflicts erupt between the two families who've lived in the same rural Ohio county for generations. The social problems of the 1990s: religious fundamentalism, anti-government sentiment, and emerging technological innovations decorate this landscape along with the realities of foster care and adoption.