Two people trapped by life's circumstances break free and find a place in the world where love is genuine and selfless. By the author of Pay It Forward.

"Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn't belong. Not with his mother's new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father's wife. Not at school, where he's an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he's tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who's introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez? Mildred Gutermann, a German Jew who narrowly...

1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners. Although his parents don't approve, he's found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers. But Steven is in turmoil as he begins to acknowledge feelings for Nick amount to more than friendship. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor draws the US into World War II, bonds deepen and the fear of being different falls away. But after Nick unexpectedly disappears one day, Steven's life...