Jack, Frances, and Frances' younger brother Harold have been ripped from the world they knew in New York and sent to Kansas on an orphan train. As the train heads to its destination, awful rumours of what life is actually like where they're going begin to pile up. And so they decide to change their fate the only way they can - they jump off the train. They wander into the woods and meet a boy who will change their lives forever. His name is Alexander, and he tells them they've come to a place nobody knows about - especially not adults-and where all children in need of freedom are accepted. It's a place called Wanderville, Alexander says, and Jack, Frances, and Harold are its very first citizens.