Chapter One Summary

Jared Finch joins his parents at a church meeting where they are discussing the refugee family the church had been sponsoring. The church had hoped to place the refugee family in an apartment in Connecticut, but at the last minute, that apartment fell through. The committee is thrilled to announce that the Finch family has volunteered to take the refugees in when they arrive tomorrow morning. Jared is outraged. He has absolutely no desire to take in a refugee family, and even less desire to share his bedroom. His sister Mopsy, on the other hand, is absolutely thrilled. She hopes the family has a girl, so she can have an instant best friend. The committee leader passes around a piece of paper with grainy photographs of the family and what little information they've collected about them. Meanwhile, refugee representative Kirk Crick...