For decades, the tiny Jewish shtetl of Kreskol existed in happy isolation, spared by the Holocaust even as it missed out on cars, electricity, and indoor plumbing. When a divorcing couple disappears suddenly, the town sends woefully unprepared outcast Yankel Lewinkopf to alert the Polish authorities. Even as Yankel is confronted by the beauty and the ravages of the modern-day outside world, the Polish government plans to reintegrate the town that time forgot, and in this National Jewish Book Award winner, the people of Kreskol will have to find a way to come together, or lose their village.

"Great fun, packed with warmth, humor, and delightful Yiddish expressions…. An ingenious yarn about the struggle between past and present."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)