Abi MacDougal lives on a cattle ranch in a pristine mountain valley in western Montana. While she and her family are at her brother's funeral, someone steals her baby sister, Gracie. They spend the next seven years searching for her, praying for her return. Without fail, they receive Gracie's picture every Christmas. "How cruel and yet kind," Abi's father declares. Abi's story begins in 1939 just before the outbreak of WWII. Heartbroken after losing her favorite brother and sister, Abi visits her brother's grave, sharing her doubts and worries just as she had done when he was alive. Her sweet, sad innocence and peanut butter honey sandwiches bring about a trusting friendship between her and a white spirit bear who meets her there nearly every day. Abi narrates the story of a large family and its triumphs and sorrows as they carry on during a war that changed the world and their lives forever.