Tilli Horn is a five-year-old farm girl in a tiny village in eastern Germany when World War II begins. Her family opposes Hitler's Nazi Party, but is powerless to rebel. Tilli is forced to join a Hitler Youth group and, as the war intensifies, her father and 16-year-old brother are drafted. She grows up with air-raid drills, nearby bombings, and fear. other girls into hiding in a secret attic crawlspace. There they stay for months, huddling in the dark, windowless space, fearing the raping, looting soldiers. It is to no avail, as Tilli is assaulted at age 11. in America. Her solo escape to West Germany at age 16-hidden in a potato wagon-is one of this moving and ultimately hopeful book's many highlights.