When a little girl moves from her home to an apartment in the city, she takes her plants with her and one by one they grow and bloom and change both her world and the world all around her as she makes a new friend.

"From her downstairs apartment in suburban London, Emma has often overheard the everyday life of the seemingly perfect family upstairs--Steph, Paul and teenage daughter Freya--but has never got to know them. Until one day, she hears something that seizes her attention: Freya has vanished and the police are questioning Steph and Paul about their life. Do either of you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to harm or threaten you? The effects of Freya's...

"Summer has come to Scotland Street. The long days have prompted its denizens to engage in flights of fancy. Some, like the Duke of Johannesburg's plan to create a microlite seaplane, are literal flights, and some, like the vain Bruce Anderson's idea of settling down with one of his many admirers, are more metaphorical. With the domineering Irene off pursuing academic challenges, Stuart and Bertie are free to indulge in summer fun. Stuart reconnects...

Nine-year-old Pearl and her popular, thirteen-year-old sister, Lexie, do not get along very well, but when their grandfather moves in and the girls have to share a room, they must find common ground.

Newlywed painter and sometime somnambulist Angus Lordie might be sleepwalking his way into trouble with Animal Welfare when he lets his dog Cyril drink a bit too much lager at the local bar. The longsuffering Bertie, on the cusp of his seventh birthday party, has taken to dreaming about his eighteenth, a time when he will be able to avoid the indignity of unwanted girl attendees and the looming threat of a gender-neutral doll from his domineering...

"Twelve-year-old Minerva Keen forms a detective club to uncover who is poisoning residents of her storied Chicago apartment building, knowing that any one of her neighbors could be the poisoner--or the next victim"--

"It's Hanukkah, and Max and Rachel are excited to light the menorah in their family's new apartment. But, unfortunately, their Hanukkah box is missing. So now they have no menorah, candles, dreidels, or, well, anything! Luckily, their neighbors are happy to help, offering thoughtful and often humorous stand-in items each night. And then, just as Hanukkah is about to end, Max and Rachel, inspired by the shamash ("helper") candle, have a brilliant idea:...

"Yusaku Godai has started his first job out of college as a part-time helper at Sweet Acorn Nursery School. Unfortunately he's not making enough money to pay rent, so he starts tutoring again. When Ibuki Yagami hears this, she decides it's the perfect opportunity to get Godai to spend some time with her..."--Cover flap.

Ten-year-old Liam and his two younger sisters, precocious third-grader Dakota and second-grader Izzy, who has Down syndrome, face the possibility of losing their beloved dog, Cupcake, who keeps urinating on their apartment's carpet.