"Claudie Wells is growing up in 1920s Harlem and is in awe of the artists all around her. Her father is a talented baker, her mother is a reporter for a renowned newspaper, and her boardinghouse mates include a jazz singer, cornet player, and painter. Claudie dreams of having a special talent all her own but struggles to find her calling. When an eviction notice threatens her beloved home, Claudie takes a risk to pursue an idea that just might turn...

Now that the yellow fever epidemic is over, the people of New Orleans raise money to care for the orphans, and Cecile seeks to discover something special she can to do help.

Cecile Rey, whose prosperous family are free people of color, makes friends with Marie-Grace Gardner, a doctor's daughter who has just returned to her native New Orleans in 1853, and persuades her to change places at their separate Mardi Gras balls.

Nellie and her sisters are about to be adopted by Samantha's family when her Uncle Mike shows up and threatens to ruin everything.

Taking a practical joke too far, Felicity and Elizabeth must find a way out of the trouble they created.

Ten-year-old Rebecca Rubin is injured during a strike at the sweatshop where her uncle and cousin work when she tries to give a speech, while keeping a big secret from her family.

While Rebecca Rubin helps her building's ailing superintendent take care of his homing pigeons, she puzzles over what to do with the Christmas centerpiece her teacher insisted she make but which has no place in her Jewish home.

When Seattle fourth-grader McKenna Brooks' cast comes off she dives back into gymnastics training in hopes of making the competitive team, but after volunteering at a therapeutic horseback riding center, she considers broadening her interests.

"Nine-year-old Nanea Mitchell may be the youngest in her family, but she still wants to "dip her paddle in" and be useful. She knows she's grown-up enough to help in her grandparents' market. But before she can prove that she's ready for more responsibility, the unthinkable happens: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, the naval base where her father works, and America is at war! With friends and family missing, and rumors of more attacks to come, Nanea worries...

After making friends with a girl at the local food pantry, Blaire comes up with an idea to make a difference in her community through the Community Service Challenge, but it will take her whole class to make Blaire's idea a reality.