Miriam Rosenfeld is fifteen years old. Almost an adult yet still a child, craving independence while needing support, truculent and loving, exasperating and a joy. Typical in so many ways.Except the year is 1940, Miriam is a Jew and lives in Nazi Germany. Life is terrifying, especially as her younger brother Oscar has Down's Syndrome and is, therefore, targeted by the Nazis for extermination.When Oscar is caught by the police, their parents fight to save him, their mother is savagely beaten and their father killed. Their mother's last words to Miriam are to take care of Oscar and flee.Miriam and Oscar embark on a journey across the continent to an aunt they have never seen. It calls on all of Miriam's intelligence, resourcefulness and determination, all her boldness and spirit. Every step they take is dogged by the menace of an ever-expanding Nazi empire.And finally, when she believes that that they are safe, Miriam agrees to return to Germany to discover the secret of the Nazi's terror weapons. And there she discovers something that will haunt her for ever.