Mary Ellen Rutherford is not like other girls, at least not like the ones that she knows. Her knees are scraped, and her clothes are worn from endless outdoor adventures. Girls pick on her for being different, and she begins to wonder if she'd be better off as a boy. When she admits her worries to her mother, her mother knows just what to do. Mary Ellen's mother tells her a very old story with a life-changing message for Mary Ellen and all the brave little girls like her.