Gregory Cornelius Jones, Jr., known as Junebug to his family, just moved to Johnsonville, Mississippi, from Chicago. Among his new friends is Miss Marguerite Gautier, who makes Junebug the best treats - teacakes, beignets, custards - in exchange his assistance in her gumbo garden. As the crop grows, so does the mystery surrounding Miss Gautier. Junebug's friends warn him he only discovers the truth when it is too late. "Junebug and Miss Gautier's Gumbo Garden" calls up the language and foodways of Louisiana. The gullible Junebug, led by his appetite for Miss Gautier's goodies, can't bring himself to believe that the woman who reminds him so much of his Grandma Pearl, who he left behind in Chicago, could be up to no good.