Leah dreams of leaving behind the crowded streets of Boston's North End neighborhood to journey west. It's the only way she'll have the future she wants - one that doesn't involve her getting married or working in a factory. But then the molasses tank at the local plant explodes, sweeping through the city streets. The wave destroys everything in its path, and suddenly Leah must fight to survive if she wants to have any future at all.

Beginning in 1959, Abby, nearly eleven, writes a series of letters to Jackie Kennedy, each with sketches of outfits she has designed, as she faces family problems, concerns about neighbors, and her own desperate desire for both her first bra and a Barbie doll.

Fifth grader Annie is just like every other girl in her small suburban town. Except she's starting to realize that she isn't. Annie is the youngest of nine children. Instead of being condemned to the bottom of the pecking order, she wants to carve out place for herself in the world. But it's hard to find your destiny when the only thing you're good at is being cheerful. Annie is learning that it's difficult to be Annie, period, and not just because...

In 1904, eleven-year-old Suzanna is delighted with her grandmother's invitation to spend time in Boston and thrilled to help her famous uncle investigate a series of arsons, but much less pleased to be enrolled her in Miss Lydia Doucette's Academy for Young Ladies.