Though they still listen to baseball and go fishing, Thomas and his grandfather find life in their small house in Florida changed when Great-aunt Linzy comes to stay.
Worried that Papa Espada cannot find a job, T?a Lola, Juanita, Miguel, and the "Sword" sisters decide to start a bed and breakfast at Colonel Charlebois's Vermont house.
When three girls and their father visit for a week in the summer, it takes T?a Lola to make Miguel forget his unhappiness at the absence of any boys and embrace the adventures that ensue.
Leaving his parents, his Mad Uncle Jack, and his Even Madder Aunt Maud at home at Awful End, Eddie Dickens, along with the color-blind Lady Constance, boards the ship the Pompous Pig on a mission to America.
Eleven-year-old Eddie Dickens's life becomes one long adventure after his parents are stricken with a strange disease and he is sent to stay with Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maud at their home, Awful End.
Having lived for years in the shadow of his younger, more talented brother, middle schooler Tim takes painting lessons from his beloved Great Aunt Winifred and discovers that he is a gifted artist.
On this year's visit to his great-aunts' farm, a young boy enjoys all that is involved in making plum jam--even the adventure of getting the plums from Farmer Wilson's tree.
Eight-year-old Ellie has to give up her life-long dream of getting a puppy after her parents agree to take in the dog that Great-aunt Margaret can no longer keep.
After a tragic airplane crash that claims the lives of most of his family, sixteen-year-old Tate goes to live with his wealthy great-grandfather and his adopted black great-aunt Vidalia and he finds unexpected solace in the stories of her childhood spent traveling with a Depression-era Negro baseball team.
