Who is named Gertrude?! Gertrude is new in Ina's class and she is different from all the girls Ina knows: She wears vintage clothes, her smile is breathtaking, and no one has such clear blue eyes. But Gertrude is also different because her father is a poet and the family has applied for an exit visa. This makes them enemies of the state in East Germany in the late 1970s. Not only is the school against their friendship, but Ina's mother is also very worried. Everything is falling apart. What do you do when you've found a friend for life, but everything is so complicated? Ina and Gertrude come up with a plan: Operation Rose, to live their friendship against all odds. A story about a great friendship - told with sensitivity, directness, and passion.