Eleven-year-old Primrose, who lives in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts her experiences and all that she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life in the months after her parents are lost at sea.

Traveling back in time to a 20th-century expedition to Antarctica, Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever, befriends a cabin boy working for Captain Robert Falcon Scott and helps them race against rival explorers to reach the South Pole.