After being expelled from Beecher Prep for his treatment of a classmate with a facial deformity, Julian has struggled to fit in at his new school. To transform his life, Julian's grandmother finally reveals her own story of courage of her youth in Nazi-occupied France, where a classmate shelters her from mortal danger.

When Tom gets hit on the head by a cricket ball, he finds himself on the miserable children's ward of St Hugo's Hospital, where he is greeted by a terrifying-looking porter and wicked matron. But things aren't as bad as they seem and Tom is soon to embark on the most thrilling journey of a lifetime!