With her mother off to New York City to study art, fourteen-year-old Jamie is frustrated and confused by her dreams of life in the big city and the realities of life in her predictable small town with her father and younger brother.
Life is always interesting in twelve-year-old Lindsey's family, whether her mother is going off to summer camp to escape the kids or big brother Eric is being forced into a bird-calling contest by a bet with a neighbor.
When thirteen-year-old Maddie goes to visit her best friend Beanie in California, she hopes that Beanie's older brother has changed, but she slowly recalls a terrible secret from the past that makes her realize just what kind of person he really is.
Twelve-year-old Starr has as much trouble dealing with her younger sister's adoration as she does with her feelings of betrayal when her longtime best friend finds a boyfriend.
A trip to San Francisco's Chinatown, a dog's funeral, and a shoplifting incident reveal some previously unknown "secrets" and affect the relationships between twelve-year-old Taylor and thirteen-year-old Lindsay and their respective older brothers.
Life is always interesting in twelve-year-old Lindsey's family, whether her mother is going off to summer camp to escape the kids or big brother Eric is being forced into a bird-calling contest by a bet with a neighbor.
