It's the summer of 1933 in Toronto. The city is small, often xenophobic, and the summer is hot. Everyone goes to the beach. In one area of the beach, a neighbourhood protective association has formed to keep out "undesirables," and members patrol wearing silver swastika pins. Meanwhile, the chief of police believes the immigrant Jewish community is at the core of a communist threat, as the world witnesses an disturbing rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. Sid and his Pop live at the edge of the Ward, Toronto's immigrant slum, where they have rented a room from the Vendetellis since Sid's mom and baby sister died from influenza. Times are tough, and Sid faces hard choices as he wrestles with honesty, bigotry, poverty, and expectations as a member of a "whiz mob," slang for a gang of pickpockets. But when Sid and his friends get coerced into working for the police after they're caught stealing a wallet at a baseball game, they become caught up in something much bigger than themselves, and must decide how far they will go to do what's right and to protect those they love. The story climaxes at the infamous Christie Pits Riot, Canada's largest race riot and a historic event that was a symbolic victory for Jewish and immigrant citizens taking a stand against injustice

Canadian author