From cover: Locked up on a train rushing toward the dreaded state detention home, the two boys wait tensely for a chance to escape. Finally, as their jailors doze off, they seize his key, unlock the compartment, and jump off.So begins the story of Latsi's terrifying flight from a police state--hiding out in fields, always in terror of recapture. And just when Latsi thinks he's safe [end of cover blurb]---

This is a semi-autobiographical book. 13 year-old Latsi is living in Sweden with his grandmother, and his parents had just received permission to emigrate there and join Latsi, but the grandmother died. The communist government of Hungary wants Latsi back and puts him on a train headed for an orphanage/re-education school. On the train to Szlnok, Hungary, Laszlo meets Pishta, who is also going to the same school. Pishta figures out how they can both escape. The two of them escape Hungary and end up in Vienna after many terrifying adventures. Latsi eventually reunites with his family, but not until he's been to Australia and then back to Sweden. A classic post-WW2 adventure story. Mostly anticommunist worldview. ( )