Based on one of Canada's most loved children's novels, this series tells the heartwarming coming-of-age story of little Willie MacLean, an orphan trying to survive at the turn of the century in a small island community off the coast of Novia Scotia. While the promise of the new century offers a hope for change, it also presents many challenges. While the world grows accustomed to new luxuries like electricity, telephones, and automobiles, Willie, his family, and his friends must continue to work in the mines just to be able to eat.