Like many Jewish families in Russia, Mary Antin's family suffered under the pogroms of the late nineteenth century and tried to secretly emigrate to America. Leaving Russia was forbidden, and Jews had to be smuggled across the border to Germany. From there, they crossed Germany by train to the port city of Hamburg, where they were brought to emigration halls and put on ships to America. It portrays the immigrant experience of a Russian Jewish family through the eyes of a young girl. It describes in dramatic detail everything from the preparation for emigration, to the dangerous crossing of the Russian border, the trip though imperial Germany to the port of Hamburg, and the long journey over the ocean.