On the barrier island of Sapelo off the coast of Georgia, two brothers, JerMarkest and Johnathan, are growing up in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people. Their greatest joy is exploring the island like their adoptive mother, Cornelia Walker Bailey, did as a child. As Sapelo?s storyteller and elder matriarch, Cornelia works to preserve what remains of her African-American community as it is encroached upon and transformed by outside property developers.