As World War II draws to an end, Russian soldiers occupy Schwarz, Germany, bringing both friendships and hardship to the family of ten-year-old Fritz, whose grandfather was a Nazi sympathizer, and after they are forced to leave their farm, Fritz's mother and hired hand are arrested, leaving Fritz to fend for himself.

Rebecca is excited to have her cousin Ana from Russia living with her family in New York City, but she fears that Ana's poor English-speaking skills will ruin her presentation at school.

In their small New York town, two teenaged girls become friends while helping each other make sense of their families, neighbors, and selves as they approach adulthood in the years preceding World War II.