One day, Roxanne and her three older siblings return home from school to find their Aunt Opal waiting for them with their baby sister. Aunt Opal tells them that their mother is sick and has left them to go to a hospital. With their father not in the picture, the eldest children are sent to an orphanage, Entiat. The younger brother is sent to their grandparents, and the baby is sent to a cousin's house.

Roxanne pledges to be a good child at the orphanage but can't stop wetting the bed. When she wakes up every morning, Suzanne has to rinse her soiled sheets and take them to the laundry.

On Roxanne's first day at her new school, the gym teacher tries to teach Roxanne how to cartwheel, but she falls in front of the rest of the class. A girl in her class, Nadine, is sitting out due to her inability to cartwheel and invites Roxanne to sit with her. Roxanne and Nadine become friends.

Over Christmas, Roxanne stays with her old neighbor's family while her other siblings are with other family members. On Valentine's Day, however, the children receive a letter from their mother telling them she's back home with their younger brother and baby sister. On Easter, the older children return home, but when Roxanne finally goes to hug her mother, she is filled with resentment.