Swan Out of Water takes place ten years after Children in the City of Czars and picks up the life of Irina Lebedev, now Anya Irina Spencer, 13-year-old adopted daughter to Susan Spencer. Despite having been adopted at a young age, "Annie" continues to suffer the ill effects of Childhood PTSD and has had a difficult time adjusting to her life in America. A downward spiral begins when she finds her adopted mother's journal that outlines the circumstances of her illegal adoption and the existence of siblings back in Russia. A seed is planted within her to return to St. Petersburg to find her brother and sister. 

Not unlike other young teens, Annie is looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. She struggles with "belonging" and jumps at the first group of girls who appear to accept her. This decision, along with someone's promise to take her to Russia, sets in motion a cascade of terrifying events that nearly costs Annie her life.