While Milo and his sister travel to a detention center to visit their incarcerated mother, he observes strangers on the subway and draws what he imagines their lives to be.

Milo is on a long subway ride with his older sister. To pass the time, he studies the faces around him and makes pictures of their lives. There's the whiskered man with the crossword puzzle; Milo imagines him playing solitaire in a cluttered apartment full of pets. There's the wedding-dressed woman with a little dog peeking out of her handbag; Milo imagines her in a grand cathedral ceremony. And then there's the boy in the suit with the bright white...

Ronan Boyle is the youngest and lowest recruit into the secret garda, an Irish police force that tries to stem and stop the misdeeds of unnumbered magical creatures. Ronan is small, has terrible eyesight, suffers social awkwardness, and has a truly absurd number of allergies--nevertheless Ronan knows he is the only one who can prove his parents were innocent and unjustly imprisoned. To do that, he must go to the land of the leprechauns.

Children who have a parent in prison express their feelings of sadness, anger, worry, and embarrassment and suggest that talking to others and keeping in contact with the missing parent helps them deal with the situation.

Cleveland Rosebud Potts yearns to leave Sassafras, Florida for a rich and cultured life at The American School of Paris, but problems with family, friends, and finances stand in her way.

"Ostracized after his mother's drunk driving conviction and his own behavior afterwards, twelve-year-old Noah begins making a fresh start while helping save a bear."-- Provided by Publisher.