Résumé: On a cold, winter street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, in a worn-down shoebox apartment, lives a teenage boy named Felix. The loneliness felt by Felix and his upstairs neighbor, even Mitzie who's kept behind in the shop at night to keep the rats away, pervades the spaces they all share. Planning his holiday departure, Mr. H asks Felix if he would be willing to mind Mitzie and the store while he's away.