Sara Crewe's whole world drastically changes when Miss Minchin, the mistress at her London boarding school, hears that Sara's father has died leaving her penniless.
An ancient, crotchety elf named Hiram and his sidekick, a Norwegian rat named Knut, conspire to drive people away from Union Square Park, while fifth-grader Jack Crain and a reporter for the New York Times, Will Manley, investigate.