It's 1947, Brooklyn, New York. Michael Devlin is an 11 year old boy who accidentally witnesses a violent assault against a Jewish man by an Irish gang member. The name of the gang is the Falcons.
Michael is unsure what to do. He is traumatized and terrified, and he doesn't know what he should do next, so he goes and talks to his mom who tells him not to worry about justice on the earth, because God will judge those who have done even during their lives when they die and meet him. That answer is insufficient in Michael's opinion, but without his dad, he doesn't have a lot of options for second opinions. His dad died before the story begins.
Michael turns to his Rabbi, a man named Judah who is a Czech refugee from the Holocaust. They bond over baseball and Jewish mysticism. Michael learns about the Kabbalah, and he learns that many Jews believe that through Kabbalah, they can regain their miraculous, God-given powers.
Eventually, the Falcons target the Rabbi, and then because of their friendship, the Falcons come to harass Michael and his widowed mother. They beat the rabbi, and young Michael finds the courage to fight back. The novel ends with him meeting the rabbi in the hospital to ask more about the Kabbalah. He decides he will magically summon a Golem to kill the gang members, using religious magic.
