When Brian's dog Arful suddenly begins talking, Brian and his two friends send the dog to find out what their classmates are planning for the school talent show.
After his mother is severely injured in an accident and his father kicks him out of the house, thirteen-year-old Travis attempts to survive on his own until he meets a guitar maker and some musicians who take him in and help him regain his confidence so that he can try to patch his family back together.
In 1815, while traveling by covered wagon to settle in the wilderness of western New York, eleven-year-old Mem experiences a flood and separation from her family.
When her new stepfather imposes restrictions on her daily life, and her best friend prepares to move to Cleveland, Natalie takes drastic steps to stem the tide of change in her life.
Sixteen-year-old Rose Nolan arrives on Ellis Island in 1911 in the hopes of starting a new life, but after most of her family is sent back to Ireland, she must find her own way in a new country and fend for herself and her younger sister.
Having been kicked off the third grade soccer team, Brian challenges them to a match against his own team, a team which he and his cousin Angel hasten to create and whip into shape--if possible.
Twelve-year-old Grady and his mother relocate yet again, this time finding work taking care of an elderly man, who teaches Grady about cars, birds, and what it means to have a home.
After losing his hand in an accident in his father's butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art, and other activities.
