After ten-year-old Hannah loses her father's lucky boyhood marbles, bad things start to happen. Hannah's not-quite-right little sister almost chokes to death on one of the marbles left behind, Daddy's Liberty ship sails off to points unknown, and her mother has little time or energy to deal with the strife on the homefront. Unable to stay out of trouble for long, Hannah learns about love, death, and sacrifice as she struggles to find her place in a world at war. Resorting to petty crime, she boards the Red Car to the Long Beach Pike and an exciting new life away from the battles at home. She soon discovers, however, that bad luck can follow anywhere. When a telegram arrives from the warfront, fulfilling the prophecy of a fortuneteller, Hannah is determined to change her luck and salvage her family. Unfortunately, "girls don't play marbles," and she challenges the worst Hannah-banana boy on one of the darkest days in American history.