The visit of the traveling Preacher Man to his small North Carolina town gives new impetus to thirteen-year-old Peters struggle to reconcile his own deeply felt religious belief with the beliefs and non-beliefs of his family and friends.

Stumpy, Murray, Gwendolyn, and Kona recruit Herman the crow and 200 owls to help with their Master Plan to assist the animals of Gooseberry Park that are in trouble because of a months-long drought.