Four separate stories celebrate the many-legged friendship between Squid and Octopus as they disagree over how to stay warm, encourage each other, and fret over the contents of a fortune cookie.

"After her best friend's mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith's picture-perfect life in the Memphis suburbs has spiraled out of control -- so much so that she hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. Composed and elegant, Brianna is exactly who she needs and slides so neatly into Elizabeth's life, almost like she belonged there from the start. Soon, the assistant Elizabeth hired to distract her from her obsession with her friend's death is the...

"It's 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, all of whom are safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. They receive weekly dispatches from The Preshutian, their school newspaper, informing them of older classmates killed or wounded in action....

When her class at Trident Academy visits a pod of whales, Kiki Coral must overcome her fears with the help of her friends.

When her college best friend, Garrett, admits he's in love with her, Maggie, a lawyer searching for Mr. Right, finds her world turned upside down and must choose between the perfect guy and a friendship that's the foundation for everything she's ever wanted.

Struggling with dynamic emotions and a desire to be perfect, Penelope Kingston resolves to find a best friend and discovers the importance of relaxing and not trying too hard when the task proves to be more difficult than anticipated.

For most of his young life Avery has dealt with his alcoholic mother with the help of his grandfather Pal--he immerses himself in poetry and popular music, and now that high school is over for the summer, he makes out with his best friend Luca (who understands about alcoholic mothers), but the death of his grandfather creates a hole in his life that he can not seem to crawl out of.

For their fourth-year quests, Tedros and Agatha attempt to return Camelot to its glory as king and queen, while Sophie endeavors to mold evil in her own image.

When her very pregnant best friend Jenn's doula is accused of murder, Ally agrees to prove the doula's innocence and races against time to solve the case before Jenn's special delivery arrives.