One summer's day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local
supermarket for some groceries - and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is
no ordinary dog. It's because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends.
And it's because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about
her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about
everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie."