The 1930s.
The roads of homeless children lead to the labor colony named after First of May. Their shared life changes their characters and turns them into worthy citizens of the young Soviet Republic.
The book is based on Anton Semenovich Makarenko’s experience working in the F. E. Dzerzhinsky colony.
Anton Semenovich Makarenko was not only an outstanding educator, but also undoubtedly a talented writer. In a non-intrusive, concise and delicate way, the book sketches the complicated fates of several “children of the street,” who later became colonists: Igor Chernyavin, Wanda Stadnitskaya, and Vanya Galchenko.