A two-time Newbery Honor-winning author spins a tale of children surviving on their own on a remote Japanese-occupied island during World War II. Izzy has come to the remote Aleutian Island in 1941 because her mother is studying the rare birds there. Matt has been dragged there by his father, who has a secret job for the U.S. government. Neither is a fan of the other. But then the U.S. is suddenly at war, Japanese soldiers invade the island, and Izzy and Matt become the only Americans to evade the evacuation to a Japanese concentration camp. Differences must be put aside, now that they must rely on themselves to hide from the Japanese left behind and survive the harsh winter and Allied bombing raids.