Fiona is Safe-Keeper in the small village of Tambleham, where neighbors and strangers alike come one by one, in secret, to tell her things they dare not share with anyone else.
Chidi has a favorite color, blue. He says it is the best color in the world. His older sister, Nneka, decides to teach him about other colors seen in their village.
Little Jamari loves the sound of the great village drum and often sits at drummer Baba's feet. "Why do you play every day?" he asks. "The drum is the keeper of peace in the village," Baba replies.
Given to the Great Father on the night of his birth, Boy is reared by a dog in a village whose people barely tolerate him, despite signs that he is favored, then travels far, striving to find his rightful place in the brutal world of humans.
Describes the various aspects of life in a thirteenth century English village including housing, food, dress, occupations, laws, role of the church, and the activities of the serfs, farmers, and the lord and lady of the manor.
Protecting her beloved students from the devastating world outside of their 1934 Berlin classroom, Thekla Jansen sacrifices some of her personal freedoms to retain her teaching position until activities within Hitler's early regime test her moral courage.
Keiichi befriends the young Sakoto, whose older brother recently disappeared without a trace, and Keiichi fears he has vanished due to Oyashiro-sama's curse.
Faye Travers, a middle-aged divorcee and specialist in Native American antiquities, discovers a rare ceremonial drum while assessing the estate of a New Hampshire man descended from an Indian agent, and, when she hears the sound of the drum without even touching the instrument, she feels compelled to steal it and return it to a North Dakota reservation where its remarkable history is revealed.
Fred and Velma want to debunk the stories of ghosts and ghouls at Crystal Cove after the kids of Mystery Incorporated arrive in the small village, but the locals do not seem anxious to have their mysteries solved.
