After her father leaves the family to marry another woman, Cassie decides that she does not want any men in her life--not even her best friend Bobby--until her great-uncle changes her mind.
A visit from his grandmother and dreams of a great-uncle he never knew help prepare Jamie for his role as big brother to the new baby who is about to arrive from the hospital.
Afraid that she has lost her own artistic ability, fourteen-year-old Susanna feels a connection with her great-uncle Louie, who has spent the past twenty years hidden away in his room, and in trying to reach him, she begins to discover her own inner strength.
Leaving his parents, his Mad Uncle Jack, and his Even Madder Aunt Maud at home at Awful End, Eddie Dickens, along with the color-blind Lady Constance, boards the ship the Pompous Pig on a mission to America.
When his mother is sent to jail in Los Angeles, eleven-year-old Tony goes to live with his forest ranger great-uncle in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where Tony experiences unconditional love for the first time through his friendship with a rescue dog.
Twelve-year-old Parker reluctantly goes to spend the summer with his eccentric great-aunt and great-uncle on their dilapidated farm, where he discovers that there is more to life than the latest game system and the coolest cell phone.
Eleven-year-old aspiring artist Skate experiences many changes when she enters middle school, finds her best friend drifting away from her, and loses her beloved great-uncle.
When Charmain is asked to housesit for Great Uncle William, the Royal Wizard of Norland, she is ecstatic to get away from her parents, but finds that his house is much more than it seems.
