Ten-year-old Beans Curry, a member of the Keepsies, the best marble playing gang in Depression-era Key West, Florida, engages in various schemes to earn money while "New Dealers" from Washington, D.C., arrive to turn run down Key West into a tourist resort. 1934, the middle of the Great Depression. Beans Curry is a member of the Keepsies, the best marble playing gang in Depression-era Key West, Florida. He and his gang know how to spot a whopper a mile away, because they are the savviest bunch of barefoot conchs (that means "locals") in all of Key West. With no jobs on the island, and no money anywhere, who can really blame the grown-ups for telling a few tales? But while Beans is engaging in various schemes to earn money, "New Dealers" from Washington, D.C., arrive to turn run down Key West into a tourist resort.