The time is 1900, in the midst of the great waves of European immigration to North America. Standing in the dust and wind of the prairie, a young boy prepares to say good-bye to Josepha, his older classmate, who is leaving the alienating world of the classroom where no one speaks his language.

But what a wonderful friend he has been! And without a common language between them, how will his younger friend ever say good-bye? What gift can he give Josepha to show how special their friendship has been?

Josepha depicts a facet of pioneer life seldom considered - the immigrant child's struggle to begin again in a strange land.