Felix Schneider believes that he is “the fastest boy in Manhattan” (5). He recently immigrated to New York, and as the novel opens, he plays “Three-Out, All-Out” with other children. Felix takes off around the bases, and boys throw the ball to try to hit him, but the throws are off, and he makes it to home base. Someone notes that Felix missed second base, and his nice shoes that his father, a cobbler, made back in Germany, have singular footprints that show that he did miss the base. The inning is over, and Felix’s Uncle Albert arrives as the children are playing tag to see who will hit next. His uncle is angry because Felix is supposed to be delivering a package to earn money that will help bring his family from Germany to America. He is also angry because the package is being used as second base. Felix knows he is fast enough to still get the package where it needs to go.

Felix runs to the Neumans, where they live in a tenement home with no windows. Felix understands that his uncle’s job as a cutter is better than the sewing job the Newmans have, because the Neumans must sew 16 hours a day for less money than Albert makes.