Nothing ever happens in the conroy family, and when something finally does, the four sisters----Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe---are sent to stay with their grandmother for the summer. This sounds like a recipe for disaster: Big Grandma gives orders like a drill sergeant and she keeps no books in the house.

The sisters certainly are'nt going to put up with big Grandma's regimen of plenty of fresh air and chores. But in their quest for alternative entertainment, they start to understand the appeal of the life their grandmother has chosen---and she starts to understand them. Are the two generations more alike than they think?