Frederich Walter rests, exhausted after being among Washington's troops at the crossing of the Delaware River in December 1776. As he falls asleep, he remembers another time of fear and excitement in his life-nearly thirty years ago, when he and his family prepared to leave their home in Germany to come to America.
From a poor village in Germany, Freddie and his family begin the long, dangerous journey to the New World. His mother, who is very frail, packs a beautiful, flowered bowl carefully among their belongings. They travel by foot to the Rhine River and then by riverboat to Rotterdam, where they eventually secure passage to cross the Atlantic. Through many adventures and hardships and a terrible tragedy on-board ship, Freddie eventually makes it to America-but what happened to his parents and what happened to his mother's beautiful bowl and his other belongings?