The week of her tenth birthday, Alice and her parents go to Sanibel Island, Florida, just as they do every year, but this time some of the people who are always there are missing and some new people have come, which unsettles Alice, who wants things to be exactly the same as they alway are.

Eleven-year-old Belinda "Bindi" Winkler and her family find their way through tough times with the love and support of the community that grows around their newly opened restaurant, "The Dancing Pancake."

On Moonpenny Island, eleven-year-old Flor O'Dell experiences a series of life changes after her best friend's sent away to a private school.

Third-grader Clementine tries to adjust to the news that her perfect family of four is adding a new brother or sister.

Fiona may have problems, but she's no damsel in distress. She'd rather be the one wielding the wand in the story: she wants to be the fairy godperson. So when her mom sends her off to stay with relatives in a place called Cold Hope for the summer, Fiona decides it's time to start training for the role. And wow, do these people need help! Aunt Becky's bakery is failing, Great-Uncle Timothy draws but never speaks, and Great-Aunt Alta is the gloomiest,...