“Alya and Lika could well call the school year a vacation. Holidays from mom and dad. To be honest, their parents didn’t particularly bother looking after them in the summer. But sometimes the whole family went on trips on a motor boat along a big river or just to pick mushrooms and berries on a motorcycle with a sidecar. But as soon as the birch tree under the window began to turn yellow, the girls were again completely left to their own devices...”