When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run "from" somewhere, she wants to run "to" somewhere -- to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along. Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find...

Having lost his mother and his hearing in a short time, twelve-year-old Ben leaves his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he never knew in New York City, and meets there Rose, who is also longing for something missing from her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.

The Gaither sisters return to Brooklyn, where they adapt to new feelings of independence while managing changes large and small, from Pa's new girlfriend to a very different Uncle Darnell's return from Vietnam.

During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in.

In Queens, New York, in 1969, twelve-year-old Julian Twerski writes a journal for his English teacher in which he explores his friendships and how they are effected by girls, a new student who may be as fast as Julian, and especially an incident of bullying.

In the summer of 1984, twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace of Huntsville, Alabama, visits her father in Harlem, where her fascination with outer space and science fiction interfere with her finding acceptance.

Inspired by real events in 1948, the story describes eight-year-old Stephen Satlow's life in Brooklyn, New York, and his obsession with the Dodgers baseball team. When Stephen's all-Jewish neighbors protest the arrival of an African American family to their neighborhood, Stephen decides to befriend the new neighbor who turns out to be Jackie Robinson himself. The friendship that develops teaches Stephen many lessons and binds the Christian and Jewish...

In 1951 Brooklyn, New York, twelve-year-old Pete Collison spends his time following the Giants baseball team and trying to be a detective. Then the FBI shows up accusing Pete's father of being a Communist, and Pete's classmates turn against him. Pete decides to uncover the truth, but worries it could put his family's livelihood and freedom at risk.

Jenny Linsky, an orphaned black cat living with a sea captain, embarks on a series of adventures in Greenwich Village with her friend Pickles the Fire Cat and manages to secure a coveted spot in the local Cat Club, which boasts a number of stately members.

In Brooklyn, New York, in 1947, a boy learns about discrimination and tolerance as he and his deaf father share their enthusiasm over baseball and the Dodgers' first baseman, Jackie Robinson.