New York City. It's 1897. Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon has always loved Christmas. Until the day her classmates bring up the age-old question: "Is there a Santa Claus?" Not sure what to believe, Virginia ventures into the city to find out for herself. Along the way she consults some unusual characters: a scraggly Santa ringing a bell, an excitable librarian with a shelf full of Christmas books, and her quirky doctor father. Unable to find the answers she's looking for, Virginia writes to The New York Sun newspaper. Her letter makes its way to the desk of curmudgeonly editor Francis Church, who has better things to do than respond to a little girl's questions. But through Virginia's determination (and a little help from a scraggly Santa) Mr. Church is persuaded to write his answer...an answer that becomes the most famous newspaper editorial of all time.