During a scarlet fever outbreak in 1906, thirteen-year-old Lizabeth must decide whether it is more important to be Strawberry Queen or to be at the bedside of her younger sister, who is ill.

In 1906, mortified by her mother's suffragist activities that cause the family to move from New York City to Cape Light, fourteen-year-old Rose sees no value in her mother's feminist views until she tries to enter a horse riding competition open only to boys.