When Patricia starts junior high, her awful older brother Richie makes her life miserable but after he teaches her to dance she sees that he is not so rotten after all.
At first, Trisha loves school, but her difficulty learning to read makes her feel dumb, until, in the fifth grade, a new teacher helps her understand and overcome her problem.
When Patricia starts at a new school she quickly becomes fast friends with fellow outcasts Thom and Ravanne and together they find a way to silence the school bully and his toadies.
Stephanie Michelle, who cares for animals and listens to the sun, believes the homeless child, Fondo, when he tells her that the geese have invited him to fly away with them.
A long-lasting friendship develops between Larnel, a young African-American, and Mrs. Katz, a lonely Jewish widow, when Larnel presents Mrs. Katz with a scrawny kitten without a tail.
