Thirteen-year-old Rachel dreads the afternoons she has to spend with her great- grandmother, Nana Sashie-until Sashie begins to reminisce about her childhood in Russia and Rachel finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of memories. As the events and characters of Sashie's past come to life, Rachel discovers a distant country and time, a time when Jews were forced to serve in the Czar's armies or were murdered in pogroms, a time when nine-year-old Sashie devised a wonderful plan to save her family from danger...

The year is 1897, and gifted violinist Reuven Bloom is fifteen years old. Life for the Jews in Russia is very hard. First Reuven's best friend is captured to serve in the Tsar's army, then his parents and older sister are murdered. Reuven's dreams of music must be set aside. Now he has only one escape. With his baby sister strapped to his back, Reuven sets off toward an unknown freedom. His journey takes him first across Russia, then ultimately to America. Readers will remember Reuven as the revolutionary who helped Sashie and her family flee from Russia in The Night Journey. In Broken Song, Reuven's own powerful story unfolds.