The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

A family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving at Grandma's house.

Maddie is a hard working high school senior, waiting to hear from the colleges she applied to, when on a whim she buys a lottery ticket and wins; suddenly she is the center of everybody's attention, including her struggling family, and not necessarily in a good way--only Seth Nguyen, her charming coworker at the local zoo, seems oblivious to her luck, and Maddie is not sure whether telling him will change their developing relationship.

Literal-minded even as a child, Amelia Bedelia muddles through Valentine's Day with her heart on her sleeve, trying to make sense of strange greetings at school and home, and ever on the look-out for the arrows of Cupid.

Three young children experience the joys and challenges of being raised by two mothers.

Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the loss of something important to her.

Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

Sister Bear is upset by all the attention her new baby sister is receiving.

A young girl narrates her family's move from the city to the country, where they have bought a piece of land and live in a trailer while they build a house from the ground up, with help from relatives and friends.

Salamanca Tree Hiddle, age 13, and her grandparents are off to find Salamanca's mother, who left home on a trip to Idaho and never came back. As they acquire a car and retrace her route, Sal tells the story of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother also disappeared under unusual circumstances.