Ten-year-old Shirley Temple Wong leaves China and sails to her new home in Brooklyn, New York. Without knowing English, Shirley has a hard time adjusting, but being befriended by the toughest girl in class gets her accepted by everyone else. Then Shirley discovers baseball and Jackie Robinson--a man who proves that Blacks can make a difference in America, and her new country becomes a land of opportunity for Shirley as well.