This is a coming-of-age story of Adirne, a young boy growing up in Tel Aviv in the shadow of World War II.

Only a handful of characters revolve within his small world but these create a micro-cosmos of the surrounding larger world - the heroic neighbor leaving for the war is contrasted by Adirne's father who stays behind; the neighbor oozing with forbidden sin who rendezvous with Mr. Goldberg while her husband is away at war is juxtaposed with Adirne's old-fashioned, self righteous mother; Sultana, the 100-year-old blind woman who helps Adirne explore his inner self and a world beyond words; and a group of ruthless children, led by Shmill, the neighbor's son and his brother Achish who is tied to a pole in the yard "So that he doesn't go searching for his father in the desert".

Adirne longs to be Shmill's friend - "I would willingly kiss the soles of his shoes if he would only let me be his friend"…to be a friend of Shmill's, the king of the neighborhood, to be a friend of Shmill's who wants to blow up the world with a mirror: " 'You can blow up the world by holding up a mirror to the sun in the morning', said the Chinese Knife Sharpener to someone. 'But this can only be done either by a child or an old person because only they are able to cry'."