What is a war, Mama? asks eight-year-old Rachel on September 1, 1939. But her mother cannot answer such a weighty question. Many years later, a host of historians and politicians offer their opinions, explaining why World War II happened and what provoked it. Left to her own thoughts, Rachel tries to find out what the work war really means, and gradually discovers the bitter truth that a war causes hunger, deprivation and death. She also finds it a test of human strengths and frailties, including her own moral dilemma: the shunting aside of values carefully taught by her parents in order to survive. Rachel also observes the gallant, brave acts of men who refuse to abandon their personal values and beliefs, despite the political mandates of their countries. Rachel's father, especially, personifies these traits as he attempts to prepare his family for the horrors of war. Allied prisoners of war, fearful of being killed during the Allied invasion, strike a desperate bargain with Rachel's father. A French P.O.W. protects a German family from the Nazis. Americans occupy the town. Displaced people of all kinds become enforced neighbors. Sudden questions arise: Who is the real enemy? How do normal people react when cruelty goes beyond their level of tolerance? How do people deal with an enemy who suddenly becomes all too human? Whom can you trust in times of great peril? This is the story of a German girl, growing up rapidly admist the chaos of war, learning what really matters, and learning that life is not black and white but covered with many shades of gray.