Though the story is fiction, this novel is based on a true story of the French village that hid the many Jewish children from the Nazis and helped to save their lives. When the Nazis rounded up Anna Hirsch, 15, her mother, her Aunt Mina and her elderly Oma (Grandma) one night in October 1940, they feared they would be sent from their home in Mannheim, Germany to Dachau. But, instead, they were put on a train to Gurs in Vichy, France and put in a refugee camp there. Conditions at the camp were deplorable. No bathrooms, sleeping on straw, always cold and hungry, sadly, it doesnt́ take long for Oma to succumb to it all. But, at least, Annaś friend Klara was there, too. Almost a year after arriving at Gurs, Anna and Klara are given the opportunity to live in a childrenś home run by the Swiss Red Cross in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon along with Klaraś brother Rudi and others, their mothers do not hesitate a moment about sending them, even though they know they will probably never see each other again.