Fran Ellen loves the Bears' House more than anything in the world. It sits in the back of her fourth grade class and it's a wonderful place for Fran Ellen to visit.
Distraught at the thought of their parents' divorcing, a brother and sister run away from home and take up residence in Golden Gate Park, where they encounter many homeless people and hear there is a murderer loose among them.
Jeff, a high school senior, becomes obsessed with creating a new, beautiful, person out of an unhappy fat girl, but when she begins to think independently, he loses control of the situation.
When her twin sister begins to assert her individuality and her grandmother suddenly dies, thirteen-year-old Dezzey finds some comfort in her relationships with her grandfather and a new friend and in an interest in the environment.
In the first of these two baseball stories, the mitt given at Matt's birth by his errant uncle possesses unusual qualities which shape his life. In the sequel, the fleet-footed star of the North Dakota Beavers meets her match when she encounters Yankee catcher, Fabulous Frankie.
