The Peppers--widowed Mrs. Pepper and her five children Ben, Polly, Joey, Davie, and Phronsie--have returned to live in their small house in Gusty Corners with J.H. "Grandpa" King, his grandson Jasper, and their faithful butler Martin, while J.H. is having another mansion in Gusty Corners built in which they can all live more comfortably. But Jasper's Aunt Martha Wilcox still wants to go to court to get custody of him. Jasper knows nothing about this and would rather live with his grandfather and the Peppers. J.H. believes she has a case, considering that they all live in the Peppers' cramped cottage. So with Mrs. Pepper's approval, J.J. decides to spend Jasper and all five Pepper children to boarding school so Martha can't get a hold on Jasper, but they only tell Polly the reason. At this new school, the other children treat the Peppers like lepers just because of their poor background; Polly gets the worst treatment, as the other teenage girls try everything to get rid of her and her siblings, but Polly endures the mistreatment rather than risk losing Jasper to his aunt.