As the Civil War rages on, the four sisters of the March family struggle to grow up without the guiding hand of their loving father.

Sick and soaked to the skin, Nat Blake has a stroke of luck when he stumbles across Plumfield, a school run by Jo Bhaer and her husband, a haven for lost boys. Immediately taken in by his new chaperone, Nat discovers a life he never knew could exist: one where education runs side by side with fun, in a school propelled by sound guidance and filled with camaraderie and love.