How can one boy change the minds of his neighbors?

When Matthew LaCraft's father gives up his ship, the Mary Jean, Matthew is going to have to stay home and go to school. Worse, it's a new school his father helped to build. Matthew would much rather go to school with the boys he knows in Boltonville. When a Potawatomi boy, Green Leaf, attends the new school, not all the neighbors are happy. What can Matthew do to help everyone get along? Will his plan work?