One of the high points in eleven-year-old Rosy's life is her daily trip to the library. There she can escape the dust and grime of her home in the industrial north end of the city and read about the adventures of her favorite fictional character, Anne of Green Gables. So Rosy is thrilled when she learns she could win a complete set of L.M. Montgomery's books in an Anne look-alike contest. But can a half-Native brunette possibly win? How will she come up with a costume, and how will she get there when her family has no car? Her dad is long gone, and her mother works hard to put enough food on the table for her and her three brothers. Will Rosy's new friend Lydia, who looks depressingly like Anne and whose father is rich, be her hope or her downfall in the contest?