Dominic Cantori is in the fifth grade. He is an orphan who has spent his life bouncing from one foster family to the next. With each new family and school, Dominic struggles to make connections and friendships. On a school field trip to Ellis Island, Dominic learns that many Americans can trace their family’s history to immigration through Ellis Island. However, Dominic’s only knowledge about his family is the dull gold key inherited from his dead parents, with the initials “S.C.” for his father.

The park ranger at Ellis Island asks Dominic’s class about their family tree project. Dominic is nervous to respond because he hasn’t told anyone at his new school about being an orphan because “[t]he idea of revealing the truth that he was alone in the world, abandoned and unwanted, filled him with such a dread that he would do anything to keep it hidden” (10). When it’s Dominic’s turn to share, he holds his key for strength and luck.

Dominic tells the park ranger and the class that his great-grandfather was from Italy even though he is unsure. The park ranger tells the kids about The American Immigrant Wall of Honor.