Summary

Chapter 1. A crowd gathers at the train station in Jenkinsville, Arkansas. Among the crowd is Patty Bergen, the twelve-year-old protagonist. The crowd has gathered to see a group of German soldiers who are being transported to Jenkinsville as prisoners of war. Many of the people there have never seen a foreigner before. Chester, a porter at the department store owned by Patty’s father, is also in the crowd. He is black and the only person of color present. The crowd is so intent and packed the fact he is in “arm-touching contact” with white people is going unnoticed. The Germans arrive, and despite being in POW uniforms, seem rather ordinary looking to Patty. She feels rather disappointed.

On her way home, she notes the government has suggested every family should grow their own food, and while her family has a victory garden, it was...