An uplifting story of passion versus power: Johnson Station, Iowa, has seen better days. Downtown businesses are closing. Once stately Victorian homes and tidy ramblers sit vacant and crumbling as the population ages and dwindles. And no one is doing anything about it. Strong-willed, middle-aged Gracie, the local librarian sees the town's potential for revitalization, if it would welcome all comers, regardless of religiton, politics, or ethnicity. But the ambitious politician Gregory has a different vision for the town. The wealthy ex-farmer is determined to drive out immigrants and turn back the clock. His first campaign in a push toward a statewide office is to strip the library of books he doesn't like: those that mention sex, atheism, Island, socialism. He rallies the town's conservative businessmen around him. As Gracie is about to lose hope for freedom of speech in Johnson Station, she learns a secret about Gregory that could destroy him, but revelaing it could hurt the teenaged girl she's taken under her wing. Setting a heartening example of female resilience and grace, Gracie starts a revolution that will change the town and many of the people in it.