A young Chinese girl beginning a new life in America describes how her difficult adjustment was made more endurable when she made her first American friend.
Angie Wu finds herself the center of attention in the fourth grade when she starts sharing her Guatemalan trouble dolls, supposedly able to make troubles go away, but then her friends get mad when the magic does not work for them.
"Almost-eight-year-old" Ruby Lu spends time with her baby brother, goes to Chinese school, performs magic tricks and learns to drive, and has adventures with both old and new friends.
Describes six-year-old Ernie Wong's preparations, at home and in school, for the Chinese New Year celebrations and his first public performance of the lion dance.
A little girl thinks her mother's garden is the ugliest in the neighborhood until she discovers that flowers might look and smell pretty but Chinese vegetable soup smells best of all. Includes a recipe.