The year is 1927 and the Merrill children are going to school in a railway car in Northern Ontario. Part of the car is the living quarters of their father, the teacher, and part is the eight-grade schoolroom. But thirteen-year-old Jenny Merrill has a secret wish, to own a violin found in the Eaton's catalogue, and she is determined to earn the money to buy it. Jenny must work hard and stay true to the people who love and support her in her life with the trappers and railroad workers.