Amina has lived for most of her life with a foster family who took her in when she came to the country as a refugee, and was separated from her mother. The story opens when she is driven to run away from her foster home after a terrible argument with her foster brother. Taking refuge in a deserted house, she meets up with Paul, an older boy who is squatting there, and who takes her under his wing. The story follows Paul's attempts to help Amina find out the truth about her real mother, and become reconciled with her foster mother. This is combined with a fast-moving plot, as the squatters try to escape eviction, and to avoid the unwelcome attention of those opposed to asylum seekers. Throughout all this, the story is infused with a warm sense of the importance of story and of song.