Leipzig in the summer of 1989: more and more people from East Germany are fleeing to the West. Fritziʼs best friend Sophie does not come back from her holiday in Hungary either. Fritzi had al-ready been surprised when she was not allowed to go on holiday with Sophie and her mother Kati and that they left their dog Sputnik with her. Now school has just started again and the new, strict class teacher Mrs Liesegang, who is loyal to the regime, does not allow any conversations about Sophie’s absence. On the contrary, she considers ‘desertion from the republic’ a crime. She also constantly discriminates against Bela, the new classmate, just because he is not a member of the pioneer organisation and his father is involved in the peace movement. When Sophie calls from Hungary and tells her that she will definitely not be returning to Leipzig, Fritzi takes a momentous decision: the twelve-year-old wants to travel to Hunga-ry to take Sputnik to Sophie. After this failed, she intends to cross the strictly guarded border to the West during her school trip. And Bela, to whom Fritzi confides her secret, is to help her..