A young girl living in a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago ponders the advantages and disadvantages of her environment and evaluates her relationships with family and friends.
In 1902 fifteen-year-old Rose travels from Ireland to join family members in Chicago, where she must use all her resources to deal with her father's drinking and her brothers' dangerous involvement in politics.
In 1893 while working at the Chicago World's Fair, a young Italian-American girl meets two prominent women, Mrs. Potter Palmer and Jane Addams, and learns about the achievements of other women throughout history.
Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.
Fifth-grader Paris learns some lessons about dealing with bullies of all kinds as she wonders how to stop a classmate from beating up her brother at school and as she learns about the Holocaust from her piano teacher, Mrs. Rosen.
Describes one Jewish family's fourteen-year struggle to emigrate from Leningrad in the Soviet Union to Chicago, Illinois, and the adjustments they have made.
