Dave is a Jewish orphan boy whose father dies from an accident. Because of that, he is sent to a strict Harlem orphanage, the Hebrew Home for Boys, run by the evil Superintendent Bloom. He makes friends with the boys who live there and tries to withstand the rules of the orphanage. One night, Dave, upset about the cruelty he has to endure, sneaks out of the HHB and meets Solomon Gruber, a gonif, and Irma Lee, a kind little girl. Throughout the course of the story, Dave struggles to decide whether he should stay at the HHB and this gives him the courage to face his fears and find a new family.