In an 1839 poverty-stricken, industrialized neighborhood of New York City, nine-year-old Sammy Jane Sumper has lived in poverty and shame, due to her selfish and abusive mother, Alice, whose scandalous life has ostracized herself from society. Alice's blasphemous life is composed of her unfavorable occupation and illegitimate daughter, who has never met her own father. When Sammy is sent to work for the cruel and powerful factory owner, Mr. Woolventomb, she at first contradicts his harsh methods of "encouraging" the workers, but then slowly succumbs to his unfair demands. She does this out of fear that she could be fired, and also by the fact that her mother would gladly throw her out of their two-room tenement and into the streets, were Sammy not bringing home the weekly pay. Then, a life-changing, yet risky, opportunity is presented to her. If she takes it, she will be able to leave her past behind, as well as create a positive future for herself and many others. If she plays her cards right, she will get what she has always desired, along with many other additional benefits to accompany it. She will finally 'make something of herself,' and prove to everyone that she is not going to end up just like her mother: poor, and alone. It sounds like the perfect, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to her, but Sammy does not realize that with every benefit comes a burden. She is walking on thin ice, and one false step could send her and those she cares about spiraling down into a worse situation in life than she had lived in before.