The film is based on the eponymous book, written by two former street gangsters - Grigori Belykh and Leonid Panteleyev. Film is set in the 1920s St. Petersburg, Russia. Streets of the city are full of the homeless boys. They are caught to be raised and educated at the correction school named after Dostoevsky. The boys are street smart and difficult. But the faculty stands up to the challenge. The teaches are being devoted and caring, and gradually win the respect of the most difficult kids. The school director Vicknixor is a refined intellectual, who becomes a role model for the boys.

Two old Leningrad workers, Sukhov and Solyanov, have a long-standing friendship — they worked at the same plant, lived in the neighborhood. Now Solyanov, at the insistence of his son, decides to retire. But it is not so easy to part with his native plant, which, as it turned out, still needs an old personnel officer...

About the heroic passage of the Red Army detachment through the Pamirs. The action dates back to the 30s. A strong earthquake is taking place in the area of ​​the Tajik village of Qizyl-Bel and the Soviet border outpost located nearby. With the help of the surviving radio station, the border guards manage to report the incident to the headquarters. A detachment of the Red Army is sent to help the victims. Fighters steadfastly and courageously overcome the difficulties of crossing the mountain spurs of the Pamirs. The detachment arrives in the village of Qizyl-Bel at the moment when the border guards and the local population are fighting off the Basmachi who have violated the border with their last strength. The enemy is defeated.

The Far East. A tugboat with six sailors was swept out into the open ocean. After unsuccessful search efforts, young Captain Yelagin presents a series of evidence pointing to deliberate criminal activity and declares it an act of treason. Meanwhile, stranded without fuel and supplies, the sailors build a mast, stitch a sail from blankets, and head towards their home shores...

About how Grandfather Gabaday helped Princess Manya and peasant son Gonza to correct their shortcomings.

Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Veniamin Kaverin.