At the tender age of fourteen, loveable rogue Tom Kipper is thrust from the schoolroom of St Joseph's Academy of Hard Knocks into the adult world of work. Armed with advice from his God-fearing Irish mother, he soon finds himself working as an office boy in the heart of Liverpool. With the Blitz at its height, life in the city is full of adventure. There are air raids to be watched, with action as spectacular as the movies, from a ringside seat on the office roof. And there's money to be made - Tom's mate Flannery promises he'll make a fortune if he sells his homemade hair cream. But what will Ma say when she sees Tom's been arrested as a Nazi undercover agent?