From 1939, when Syvia is four years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation. Based on the true story of the author's aunt, Syvia Perlmutter, who later used the name Sylvia.

When eleven-year-old Claire is invited to serve as a junior bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, a commoner, to the Prince of England, she learns that another, social-climbing junior bridesmaid is trying to keep the wedding from happening and it is up to Claire to stop her from spoiling the big day.