Mariette is only five years old when the Nazis invade her hometown of Brussels, Belgium, in 1940. Soon her family is torn apart, and Mariette and her siblings are scattered, hiding with non-Jews and in convents and orphanages or working for the resistance. Seeing violence and death all around her, Mariette learns the skills she needs to survive, especially how to stay silent. Mariette emerges from the war quick-thinking and fiercely independent. As she navigates the transition to an identity as Marie, an industrious and resourceful community member in North America, Mariette, the silent child, begins to find her voice.