In 1948 eight-year-old Kay is at Oakdale, the Lapeer State Home in Michigan where people of all ages with physical and mental aberrations come to live. Kay wonders why she is here, and if she will ever leave. She cares for an infant who will not let anyone else feed her, and she has friends-especially a boy her age she calls "Toe." When Kay and Toe grow close as teens, she discovers the Home has scheduled surgery that will change her life...