Postcard from the past -- Homecoming -- Room of his own -- New day -- New life -- Simon Isadore Green -- Universal knowledge -- Good-bye John Alan Feester -- Hello, Kenneth Stumbling Bear -- Truth of the trees -- Simon's secrets -- Best of times -- Worst of times -- Rachel to the rescue -- Truth at last -- Sneaking suspicions -- Justice swift and harsh -- Schwartz' on Sunday -- Simon's seder -- King of the Jews -- Wisdom of Solomon -- News and revelations -- Schwartz' many secrets -- Gus tells his secret -- Home from California -- Pen pals -- Letter from the past -- Anything is possible -- Author's note -- Taps -- Acknowledgments and commentary -- Glossary.
Summary
Simon, a sixth-grader who had been sent from Germany to live with an American family when he was six years old, spends the summer of 1942 facing his feelings of abandonment and learning about antisemitism in his small Oklahoma town.