"Josie dreams of dancing at next summer's powwow. First she needs many special things. She needs a dress, a shawl, and a cape. She needs leggings and moccasins. And, perhaps most important of all, she needs a spirit name. She asks Mom, Aunty, Kookum, and Grandma Greatwalker for help. They have the skills to prepare Josie for her powwow debut. As the months go by, Josie practices her dance steps. Mom stitches, and Aunty and Kookum bead. Grandma...

Because she has been very ill and weak, River cannot join in the dancing at this year's tribal powwow, she can only watch from the sidelines as her sisters and cousins dance the celebration--but as the drum beats she finds the faith to believe that she will recover and dance again.

The cone-shaped jingles sewn to Grandma Wolfe's dress sing tink, tink, tink, tink . . . Jenna loves the tradition of jingle dancing that has been shared over generations in her family and intertribal community. She hopes to dance at the next powwow. But with the day quickly approaching, she has a problem--how will her dress sing if it has no jingles?