This children's story is set in the Great Depression, starting on a farm in the Dustbowl of Saskatchewan, Canada. Ellen's father has gone off to find work, and when Ellen and her mother can no longer stay on their farm, for lack of food, they move to Toronto where Ellen's aunt runs a boarding house. Shy Ellen gets to know the neighbor family's children by sitting up in a tree where she can observe them unseen - and where she overhears a plot to evict them, and gets involved in helping them raise money to pay the back rent. Although the book is realistic and well-written, it seems to end very abruptly before their plan to earn money is completed.

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