Sixteen-year-old Ellie Morgan has two dreams — winning the blue ribbon at the Rock River Pumpkin Weigh-In and Harvest Fair for the biggest pumpkin in Iowa, and losing twenty pounds. Growing giant pumpkins, though, is a time-consuming passion, and her father thinks it is interfering with school and side tracking the rest of her life.
Ellie is supported by her grandmother, Nana, from whom she inherited the love of agriculture; her cousin Richard; Wes, a handsome new student and sweet corn farmer; and eventually her father. All are present when her giant pumpkin, Max, is loaded on the scale.