The year is 1933, at the start of perhaps the worst decade in American history, when twelve-year-old Peep Holler tries to make sense of her chaotic world. Fierce dust storms threaten her existence and the relationships she thought were solid teeter on total collapse. She lives on a farm, in the far western Oklahoma Panhandle, with her single alcoholic father, George, and his faithful farmhand, Russ. Her mother, Elizabeth, died giving birth to her, but Peep occasionally sees her mother in dreams and welcomes her advice. Now that she is approaching her teenage years, Peep misses her mother even more. To bring comfort, Peep has girls’ meetings in a cave she found, in the Black Mesa area near her farm, with her best friend, Jodi Bluecoat. The two could not be anymore different because Peep is a tough tomboy, and she describes Jodi as “prissy.” The only girly trait Peep develops is a crush on Jodi’s fifteen-year-old old brother, Tom. While in the cave one day, Peep confesses that she wishes her father had died instead of her mother. Jodi, in turn, wishes her annoying nine-year-old brother, Luke, would do the same.
Daily, Peep has to contend with her father who is constantly drunk and upset. To avoid him, she spends more time with Jodi’s family. During a physical confrontation, Peep is struck so hard by her father on her face that it draws blood and leaves a bruise. While Peep tries to cope with her father’s abuse and alcoholism, Jodi suffers her own personal crisis when Luke dies from dust pneumonia, a common ailment among farmers of the time. Jodi feels guilty about not having a good relationship with Luke, and Peep begins to question her faith in God. Surprisingly, Jodi’s faith grows stronger.
Peep attends Luke’s funeral alone because her father refuses to go. Later Peep discovers the reason why when she catches her father and Jodi’s mom, Savannah, in a compromising embrace. She learns the two had an affair and that Luke was actually her father’s son — a secret George and Savannah kept from Jodi’s father, Sam, and Jodi’s brother, Tom. Peep struggles to expose this secret but decides not to because it would devastate her best friend and drive a wedge between her parents. Peep’s distrust of her father grows, pushing her closer to Tom whom her father dislikes. He forbids her from seeing Tom. Peep hates her father even more since she wants to watch Tom compete in an annual rodeo tournament. Peep disobeys and goes anyway. But her father follows her there, and a scuffle with the Bluecoats leads to him breaking Tom’s arm. Tom cannot participate in any of the events and misses out on competing for the prize money that he wanted to use to buy Jodi a nice dress for Christmas if he had won.
Despite his past of not owning up to his mistakes, Peep’s father apologizes to her during a fishing trip after the two visit a spot when she was younger. Their relationship seems to be on the mend until a huge dust storm catches Peep and Jodi off guard. The two get stuck outside, but Peep makes it to safety. Unfortunately, Jodi does not. Peep’s father searches for Jodi and both do not return as they suffocate inside a cave where they had sought protection from the storm. It is the same cave where Peep and Jodi had their meetings and shared their lives.
The tragic cave-in shakes Peep to her emotional core and makes her question God’s existence again. The incident causes her to spiral into a deep depression. After the deadly tragedy, Peep lives with the Bluecoats and eventually marries Tom. Later in life, she writes books on how to survive life’s tragedies. Her writing is therapeutic, and the process lifts her out of depression, steering her to discover the reality of God and his love. Her books become bestsellers, helping millions worldwide. She travels extensively and appears as an inspirational keynote speaker at conferences and events. She is the most interviewed guest on radio and television talk shows. Although Tom and Peep did not have any kids, they created numerous shelters and charities to help society’s less fortunate children and animals. Virginia Ann “Peep” Holler becomes a world-renowned humanitarian after receiving the highest honor bestowed upon a citizen by the President of the United States — the Presidential Citizens Medal. She dies, from natural causes at age 75, but not before telling her life story to a trusted aide.
