Mrs. Poltoi and Mrs. Hopanlitski, two widows who survived Eastern European pogroms, live on the end of the block in a young boy's neighborhood in Chicago. The boy has a troubled family and is friends with a girl called Raccoon (who has bags under her eyes from lack of sleep because her parents fight) and another boy named Art. The three despise Mrs. Poltoi but love Mrs. H. An older but simple boy, dubbed Eddie the Vacant, also lives in their neighborhood, and when Eddie starts planning an ill-conceived party, the kids make relentless fun of him. To get funds for the party, Eddie goes to Mrs. Poltoi's house, and she shouts at Eddie to go away and eventually kicks Eddie down her stairs. When Eddie comes back later, Mrs. Poltoi calls the police, and Eddie is sent to a detention center for several months. Eddie comes out beat up and scared of everyone, so the kids are less mean to Eddie and more angry at Mrs. Poltoi for getting him locked up. When the boy's parents go on a vacation, they send him to stay with Mrs. Poltoi. At first, the boy is anxious because he doesn't knows if his parents told Mrs. Poltoi he wets the bed, but when he does, Mrs. Poltoi is kind. She tells the boy she feels bad about what happened to Eddie, but that she "had a bad time in the past with a big stupid boy" and was scared. She asks the boy to apologize to Eddie for her. Later, Mrs. H shows up to make sure the boy is okay, and when she leaves, Mrs. Poltoi says all Mrs. H's stories about the pogroms are lies, that she grew up in America. When the boy's parents get home, they confirm this, so the boy tells his friends and they're surprised they didn't realize before.