Flat Stanley mails himself to Japan to visit his hero, martial arts movie star Oda Nobu, and becomes his personal ninja.

Discovering that the life in the spotlight she always desired is harder than anticipated, Lena struggles to enjoy everyday activities with her younger sisters and trusts in faith and family to see her through.

The journey begins on a ship at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage. Nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis runs away from school and seeks refuge with a reclusive uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits...