After Merry befriends Elton, an artistically talented boy whom some of her eighth grade classmates call retarded, she must find a way to prove that he is not responsible for the damage at the farm of her Amish friend, Rachel.

Susie Zook reminds Merry of her dead sister. When Susie is injured in an automobile accident, Merry feels like she is losing a sister again.

Merry asks God to help her find her friend's missing mother.

Merry's Amish friend Rachel asks for help with her Rumschpringa, the period in her teen years when she can experiment with the outside world and modern life before deciding to devote herself to Plain living.