Algiers, 1955. War has not yet reached the gates of the city. Lyes, Ahmed, Philippe, and Khadidja are between 10 and 12 years old. Malek, Khadidja’s older brother and only family, is arrested after an altercation with policemen at the market. Lyes, a resourceful street child, witnesses the scene and takes the little girl under his wing. From their shack on the rooftops of the Casbah, the children will do everything they can to help Khadidja face this ordeal and, while roaming the city, decipher a mysterious black notebook found among Malek’s belongings.