Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old James Houston Davis, the music-loving son of a poor sharecropper, is determined to get a good education and help improve life in his beloved state of Louisiana. With help from his self-sacrificing parents, Jimmie graduates from Beech Springs High School and is accepted at Louisiana College. After financing his way through college by working odd jobs and selling songs he has written, Jimmie graduates with a B.A. and returns to teach at Beech Springs High. The next year he enrolls at Louisiana State University and earns his Master's degree.