Although she has been saving for a ring, Stella decides to give her bundle of nickles to a carpenter who is trying to rescue his little girl from a war-torn country.
When Mrs. Bear and little Sam deliver the cakes they have made for their friends in the neighborhood, Sam carries the cakes all by himself, through the snow and up to the front doors.
Best friends Casey, Kate, and Jenny celebrate Casey's ninth birthday by having an ice skating party, which is only temporarily spoiled when Kate falls and breaks her arm.
Harry sits on the porch with Mr. George Baker, an African American who is one hundred years old but can still dance and play the drums, waiting for the school bus that will take them both to the class where they are learning to read.
In a series of journal entries and letters to a pen pal, Katie relates her feelings about her father's death in World War II, her mother's remarriage, and the family's move from New York City to Texas.
