A remarkably straightforward first-person account tells of two children in an unnamed Middle Eastern nation who are playing soccer in the days following a bombing when one of them picks up a shiny yellow bottle that catches his eye. It turns out to be a bomb, and it explodes. The narrator, Marwa, is injured, but not as badly as her friend Ahmad, who loses a leg and a hand. The tone of the narrative conveys a childlike perception of the dangers of war: “One day, like a cloud of angry wasps, airplanes flew over our houses ... At first, we were terrified. We held our breath. And then, after a few days, as all children do, we forgot a little.” Ahmad “forgot how to smile” when he learns the extent of his injuries. Then a visitor with injuries like Ahmad’s comes to visit. “He told him of his pain, his sorrow, his anger. He also taught Ahmad that having hope and living life to the fullest are more powerful than those yellow bottles.” A purposeful narrative giving readers a sense of the grim reality faced by many children in other parts of the world is accompanied by striking collage illustrations that include a final montage of photos of children who have been injured by bombs. (Ages 7–11)

Marwa and Ahmad live in an unnamed country that could be any one of dozens touched by war. While they know that there is a war going on, life in their village goes on largely as normal. Marwa is the narrator of the story, and she tells of a day when planes flew over their village "like a cloud of angry wasps". They are warned that these planes dropped bombs, but after being frightened for a few days they forget of the danger. Until a day when the two are playing and Ahmad finds a small yellow bottle and out of curiosity picks it up. It explodes, and Marwa describes the aftermath as she is cut and scarred, and Ahmad is more gravely hurt - losing a hand and one leg. Both recover and regain hope, and Lisa says she is sharing this story to honour Ahmad's courage and other children like him.