Based on the "Molly: An American Girl" book series, the film is set in 1943 to 1944 during World War II.<ref name="wpjefferson"></ref> 10-year-old Molly McIntire lives in Jefferson County, Illinois with her parents and older siblings. Her father is an Army doctor. Molly is in the third grade at Willow Street School along with her best friends, Linda and Susan. In the beginning, Molly, Linda, and Susan are at the movie theater talking about how they think their teacher, Miss Campbell, is nice and pretty and they think her fiance, Lieutenant Davies, is handsome as well. The girls then go to an ice cream parlor and are disappointed that they are out of ice cream, but they decide to get cherry coke instead. As Molly's 10th birthday nears, she dreams of having princess-themed tea party for her birthday, only to be disappointed to learn that her family can't afford it. Molly's older sister Jill then says she is too immature to understand how the war changes people's lives.