Uri Shulevitz’s last book tells the story of his uncle Yehiel Szulewicz, focusing on the time between when he left home in 1930 at age 15 through the end of World War II. Yehiel left in part because of his father’s strict religious-based parenting, but also because he wanted to see more of the world. He did—but often just one (literal) step in front of disaster. Yehiel managed to cross borders and evade fascist military forces without having mandatory identity and travel papers as he moved through Czechoslovakia, Austria, Croatia, Italy, France, and Spain. He fought as a soldier for the Spanish Republican Army opposing Franco in the Spanish Civil War and worked with the Jewish Resistance in France. His good fortune didn’t always hold, especially as evidenced by the descriptions of horrific combat in Spain. Yehiel and his older brother survived the war, but two brothers and his parents did not. Short chapters and an unvarnished, matter-of-fact tone combine to make this both accessible and a stylistic standout in an account of one person’s survival through turmoil, deprivation, battle, and genocide. Bold black-and-white illustrations and photographs visually augment the text.