The story follows the parallel adventures of two children, Wilbur and Jeanne, whose separate childhoods are filled with both a sense of wonder and the quiet struggles of their home lives. For a young Wilbur, his grandparents' farm in Slovak, Arkansas, is a place of boundless freedom. At age six, his mischievous side takes over as he paints his grandfather's black car white, then outsmarts a bull he sees as his nemesis. Later, he panics in the woods, believing a sound to be the "White River beast." At twelve, Wilbur's adventures become escapes from his difficult home life in Memphis. He rides his bike to Slovak, viewing the journey as a top-secret mission. Once there, he reimagines a duck hunt as a military operation and a tractor as a tank, which sinks in a bayou. These grand fantasies provide a refuge from his turbulent reality.

Jeanne's childhood is also defined by her need for escape, seeking freedom from the constant tension of her family's home life. At age six, she lives in fear of her sister's pinches but finds peace in visits to her Grandpa Johnson's farm in Coffeeville, Mississippi. The farm is a refuge from her parents' loud arguments and her father's volatile anger, a stark contrast to her grandpa's calm, steady presence. As a ten-year-old, her adventures continue when her Grandpa Lucien takes her on a magical trip to downtown Memphis. The journey includes seeing a John Wayne movie and visiting Sun Studio, where the electrifying sound of "Blue Suede Shoes" inspires her to dance. Returning home, she carries this imaginative spirit into a game of Cowboys and Indians, where she takes the game too far by using a real knife against her brother, leading to her punishment. Through these moments, Jeanne's imagination and her relationship with her kind, protective grandpas provide her with the love and stability she lacks at home.