Twelve-year-old Amnon Feuerberg, only one week before his bar mitzvah, is placed on a train in Jerusalem by his dad and Gabi, his dad's secretary and (for many years) live-in female companion. Not especially happy about this trip, "Nonny" is enroute to the home of his uncle in Haifa...or so he believes. His actual destination is far more exciting than that. Neither Nonny Feuerberg nor the reader will have any idea where he is headed, but both are in for a wild, unbelievable ride!

Grossman does a terrific job with this novel. He aptly combines a young boy's sense of adventure, flamboyant characters, a fine-tuned mystery, two love stories, and a family revelation. Then he turns these all into one fun and frolicsome page-turner. Kol hakovod!