Sterling Brooks, who lived an unremarkable, self-centered life, is sent by the Heavenly Council back to Earth to help a lonely young girl and prove his worth.
Unable to grieve after the death of her twin sister, seventeen-year-old Hannah accompanies her parents to Lascaux, France, where she visits the caves and discovers an astonishing connection between herself and her prehistoric ancestors.
Dorrie must learn to deal with her feelings of frustration, anger, and resentment as her life seems constantly affected by the fact that her younger brother has Down's syndrome.
Twelve-year-old Lucie-Marie and her older sister Annie Sharon attempt to deal with the death of their mother in a rodeo accident, while hoping to follow in her footsteps as championship riders.
At her death an elderly Plains Indian woman experiences the afterlife believed in by her people, while the surviving family members prepare her body according to their custom.
When a large family moves into the house near where he and his father live in the woods, Perry's friendship with the oldest girl helps him come to terms with his sister's death and his parents' divorce.
When her pet rabbit's newborn babies die, her doctor tells her that she may have scoliosis, and her aunt is diagnosed with cancer, ten-year-old Laurel feels constantly remined of the mortality of all living things.
A hare killed by a car is found by two children who take it to school where they and their classmates write stories about it--giving it both a new life and a choice to make in the afterworld.
