The author, who is called Piri in the narrative, describes her experiences as a Jewish girl in Hungary during World War II. Although Piri's mother attempts to hold the family together and preserve their religious traditions, Piri experiences the slow but ever increasing persecution of the Jewish people in her town of Beregszasz. Unable to escape Hungary, the family witnesses the Nazi invasion of Beregszasz after which they are stripped of all rights and forced to live in a Jewish ghetto. The book concludes in 1944 when Piri and her family are transported to Auschwitz. A 1982 Newbery Honor Book.