The sparkling white beaches and exotic palm trees seem like a dream to eleven-year-old Su-Na, a Korean immigrant whose family has journeyed to the island of Hawaii, hoping to find prosperity and good fortune. While her father works long, hard hours for low wages on a sugar cane plantation, Su-Na and her two younger sisters, Jae-Mi and Hi-Jong, get their first glimpse of an unfamiliar culture, taste strange new foods...and see firsthand the racism that prevails among the different Asian populations.

Discouraged by their experiences in Hawaii, but still hopeful that life on the mainland will be everything they've imagined, the family moves to California. All of them struggle with language barriers, poverty, and prejudice in their adopted homeland, and the sisters soon find that their new American lifestyle often conflicts with their traditional Korean heritage. Growing up in both worlds, the girls begin to understand themselves better...but they also realize that America will not truly be a free country until all its people are considered equal.