Thirteen-year-old Irene helps in her grandfather's plant nursery, makes new friends, and begins to learn what she really wants and needs after her father, having lost his job as an investment banker, moves her and her mother to his father's farmhouse upstate.
In 1856, twelve-year-old Celia Snow sets sail with her parents on her father's whaling ship and chronicles her subsequent adventures on the more than two-year voyage in a series of letters written to her cousin Abigail.
To celebrate her eighth birthday, Carrie's grandmother takes her by boat to Billingsgate Island in Cape Cod, an island that is only visible during low tides.
Emma's dog, Toby, does not like cats, and when the neighbor's cat, Pandora, moves in with them he is the only one who notices all the trouble she causes--and the only one who notices when she gets stuck in a tree.
Emma's dog Toby misbehaves every day, but after he passes some training classes, Toby learns new tricks which reminds Emma of the reasons why she loves her pet.
When Electra trips over the neighbor's cat on her way home from the bakery with six charlottes russes, she tries to repair the damage to these special desserts.
