An adaptation of the novel by Terry Kay: Two teenagers, one black, one white, are destined to bring change to their racially divided Georgia hometown in 1949. Luke is a dreamer who runs away with his more pragmatic best friend after reading about Huckleberry Finn's riverboat journey. The fun-filled adventure quickly turns into a frightful mystery when the boys stumble upon the bones of three murdered men. As the townspeople scurry to protect themselves from a legendary serial killer named Pegleg, their new sheriff aims to bring justice to the village.

1960s dreamer Hubert T. Lee moves his wife Edna and two children to Florida, where he builds the world's largest drive-in right on the beach—directly across the street from a funeral home. The noisy establishment is a hit with locals, but infuriates funeral director Turner Knight. The animosity is further complicated by a growing friendship between Knight and Edna, and the budding romance between Lee's son and Knight's daughter.

A woman is abandoned by her newlywed husband when he learns that their unborn child will be born with genetic abnormalities.