 It is the summer of 1944 in rural North Carolina. Twelve year old Elizabeth has one major problem: Freckles. Faced with the war-time absence of her father, a seemingly unsympathetic mother, a teasing older brother, and a grandfather she dismisses as being too old to understand, Elizabeth will go to any length to rid herself of freckles. After trying superstitious methods and a mail-order cream, Elizabeth s wise Grandpa teaches her to see the true beauty that exists within all people through a touching symbolic act.