"On his eighth birthday, Billy Miller wishes for something exciting to happen. None of his wishes are answered the way he expects, but he does have lots of surprises--and the final one is possibly the best one ever"--

Twelve-year-old Mitch and his mother are spending the summer with his grandparents at Bird Lake after his parents separate, and ten-year-old Spencer and his family have returned to the lake where Spencer's little brother drowned long ago, and as the boys become friends and spend time together, each of them begins to heal.

In Wisconsin, fourth-grader Ida B spends happy hours being home-schooled and playing in her family's apple orchard, until her mother begins treatment for breast cancer and her parents must sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.

In 1948, Nikko Spirakis, twelve, loves baseball but must get past his hard-working immigrant parents--and the rhino in the outfield--to become a batboy for the local minor league team.

Twelve-year-old Billie enjoys summer on Wisconsin's Madeline Island, where she harvests honey, mucks llamas stalls, and grows a giant pumpkin, determined to reclaim her title in the annual pumpkin race.--