Abandoned by her father during the Depression, eleven year-old Elsie lives in the garage behind her old house with her mother, her grrandmother and her out-of work uncle. Elsie's friend Ernest, accompanies her as she searches for her father in the ciry, encountering unfriendly hoboes, food lines and shantytowns. After both her uncle and her mother disappear as well, Elsie and Ernest spend their time trying to get the "scoop" on a story about a local dance marathon, where Elsie finds joy, even as she witnesses despair.
