After an unexpected snowstorm leaves Greylock stranded with no plows, Sarah and the town come up with a creative plan to clear the roads. During the storm, Sarah gets two unexpected guests and tries to figure out how to navigate both circumstances. Corinne and Danny are forced to deal with what happened after they can't go anywhere due to the snow. Meanwhile, AJ and Grover are hunkering down at Sweetie Pie when Bella returns home early from school and reveals the reason why, leaving them surprised, and AJ to reveal her own bombshell to Grover.
The bucolic tranquility of Greylock, New Hampshire is upended when a massive vein of coltan - an incredibly valuable mineral used in tech - is discovered under the town. State-backed mining company Lydon Industries swoops in with plans to extract the mineral, which will wipe Greylock off the map. With her friends and family in danger of losing their homes, rebellious high school teacher Sarah Cooper vows to stop Lydon's bulldozers.
Leading Lydon's efforts is Sarah's estranged brother, Danny Cooper. After enduring a difficult childhood at the hands of his mother, former New Hampshire state senator Ellen Cooper, Danny is eager to exact his revenge on a community he feels abandoned him. Sarah enlists her friends - fellow teacher Corinne Dearborn, police officer Amy "AJ" Johnson, and diner manager Grover Simms - in the fight against Danny.
There seems to be no way to stop the town's impending demise, until Sarah proposes an oddly intriguing solution: Greylock could declare independence, since the town's land was never properly claimed by the United States. With the help of a group of supporters that includes Sarah's friends and three of her teenage students - LA transplant Maya Jiménez, introspective outsider Tyler Easterbrook, and preppy "popular girl" Bella Whitmore - they win the vote. Now, Sarah and her allies must confront an even more daunting task: building a country from scratch.