In 1942, much of France is occupied by the Nazis. Twelve-year-old Miri is Jewish, so she is not safe. Separated from her parents, she rescues her neighbours’ two-year-old daughter Nora and escapes to a village, where she is given a new name and pretends to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture. 

Miri is at first wary of the convent school nuns, but soon learns that there is much more than meets the eye to these knowledgeable women. One night she is asked to undertake a terrifying task that could allow her to escape. But what about Nora? The person Miri meets that night could save her life. And the person Miri becomes that night could save the lives of many more.

Shimmering poetry and stunning cut-paper art portray epic concepts—the evolving biography of the universe and the symbiotic relationship between science and story.

Since the beginning, humans have created stories about the universe. From early mythology to modern-day science is a long journey, yet 95 percent of the world “out there” remains a mystery. What will we believe tomorrow? Marion Dane Bauer’s glowing poetry combines with Hari & Deepti’s intricate cut-paper illustrations, dazzling with light and shadow, to celebrate an active, vital, changing, and growing universe. They also show how we humans—the curious ones, the storytellers—are active, vital, changing, and growing, too. In a comprehensive afterword, the author tracks formative contributions to the study of the universe by Western and non-Western civilizations over the centuries.