Ithaca plot
"One message will change everything."
California during World War II. Homer Macauley is a 14-year-old boy growing up in the small town of Ithaca. His older brother Marcus fights at the front and older sister Bess is studying. Homer is tasked with taking care of his mother Katie, widowed for two years and without income, and his younger brother Ulysses. For that reason, he works as a telegram deliverer in the evenings, while he is at school during the day. Homer is determined to become the fastest telegram deliverer in the world but soon finds himself caught between dream and reality when he has to inform people about fallen loved ones and other serious matters. He is having a hard time with this and discovers that he is becoming more and more mature in a short period of time, but he remains optimistic.