Excited by the unexpected prospect of a baby, eleven-year-old Jessica and her family eagerly prepare for the changes the new arrival will bring to their lives.
When economic reasons cause two families to merge into a crowded household on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, more personal problems exacerbate the tense living conditions.
As author Jessica and artist Daphne collaborate on a picture book for a seventh-grade English class contest, Jessica becomes aware of conditions in Daphne's home life that seem to threaten her health and safety.
In 1902 fifteen-year-old Rose travels from Ireland to join family members in Chicago, where she must use all her resources to deal with her father's drinking and her brothers' dangerous involvement in politics.
Hounded by a gang of kids after her mother's disappearance leaves her on her own, Lucinda hides in the abandoned caretaker's house in the local cemetery where she makes contact with intelligent beings from another galaxy.
As she struggles to cope with a difficult mother and find her place in the world, young Nealy Compton finds solace in the relative solitude and safety beneath her neighbor's porch.
When Allie is contacted by the ghost of a dog, she and Dub investigate the surly new boy at school and his father, who may be running a puppy mill, to see if they are involved.
