Twelve-year-old Danny O'Carolan and his sister, Kathleen, arrive in New
York City in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. Kathleen finds a job
in domestic service for herself and Danny, hoping to keep Danny from
being drafted into the US Army as a drummer boy. As he explores the city
and shares his talent for Irish dancing, Danny discovers the vast
variety of New York's neighborhoods. With the threat of the draft
pitting Irish immigrants against the free Black population, stoking
tensions between the rich and the poor, and threatening the life Danny
hopes to build, can he find a safe place to call home?