"Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home. Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp -- all thanks to a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days at Shady Glen, refusing to speak. Until Alex knocks on Josey's door ... and Josey begins to tell Alex his story. As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he's ever done?"--Back cover.