Quiet, loner George has lived most of his twelve years in an institutional home, spending summer holidays with different sets of foster parents. He hasn't been happy at any of these placements and has run away twice. He isn't pleased with the prospect of four weeks with the Dyers at their farm in Devon. Nor is Tom Dyer happy at the prospect of George's coming. The Dyers have had foster children every summer for years, and Tom bitterly resents it. But when George arrives, Tom and his younger sister are gradually won round, and after several adventures they all become close. Tragedy strikes when Mrs.Dyer is sent to hospital with a serious back injury. Mr. Dyer decides the children must go to their grandparents, and George will have to return to the home. In a dramatic denoument, George runs away from the home and goes back to the farm, where, it has been decided, he will live permanently. All this may seem unlikely, but the relationships between the various characters are well done, as are George's feelings of loneliness and rejection.