The story is told in first person narrative by Patricia Anne Bergen, a 12-year-old Jewish girl living in Jenkinsville, Arkansas near the end of World War II. Patty is intelligent and curious, but also naïve and unworldly. At the beginning of the novel, Patty has low self-esteem brought on by her mother's criticism of her appearance and her father's abuse.
When a group of German POWs visits her father's department store, Patricia meets Fredrick Anton Reiker, a rifleman who comes from Göttingen, but is half-English. His English-educated father is a professor of history who gets into trouble for making fun of Hitler in lectures. Anton has no sympathy either with the Nazi party or its ideology.
Anton teaches Patty that she is a person of value. In return, she protects Anton by hiding him above her father's garage, telling only her family's African-American maid, Ruth Hughes.
Anton is almost exposed when he sees Patty's father beating her one day and runs out of hiding to protect her, but she shouts for him to go back before he is seen. Before long, the FBI comes to town, searching for Anton. When they call at the Bergens' home, Patty runs out to the garage to warn Anton that he must leave immediately or he will be caught. Anton flees from the garage after thanking Patty for her help and gives her a valuable ring that belonged to his grandfather. Anton escapes from Jenkinsville and makes it to New York City, where he is discovered and shot while trying to escape. The FBI return to the Bergens' house and relay the news of Anton's death to Patty, who is devastated.
Appalled to hear that his own daughter aided a Nazi prisoner, Patty's father disowns her. The only person who still talks to her is Ruth, who has now been fired from her job as housekeeper for keeping Patty's secret. Patty stands trial for treason, where she is convicted and sentenced to reform school. Patty plans to visit Anton's mother in Germany after the war is over.
