There are many special helpers for people with disabilities. These special helpers include guide dogs, wheelchairs, walkers, video phones, prosthetic limbs, and more.
Julien and David are best friends who live next door to each other. When they go to dinner at each other's house, they notice many differences in their families and houses.
Homelessness is explored with insights into reasons for homelessness, its dangers, and its struggles. Sobering statistics reflect the fact that homelessness is much more common than one might think. Readers are invited to help make a difference and given specific ways to do so.
Mark is jealous when Colin, the new kid at school, gets all the attention. Mark starts spreading rumors about Colin.
Then when Colin turns the tables and says something unkind and untrue about Mark, Mark realizes he was wrong. He begins to understand how difficult it must be to come to a new school, and he tries to be friendlier and more welcoming.
Ming Lee runs a fix-it shop. Philip loves to visit his Uncle Ming's shop. As Philip grows up, he sees the changes that take place in the town. When Philip is in college, he finds out that Uncle Ming's shop is not doing too well. Philip suggests that Uncle Ming start fixing computers, and he starts teaching Uncle Ming about computers and their parts. Uncle Ming even takes classes at a computer school. Now Uncle Ming is expanding his business and hiring a helper.
With the help of a local shopkeeper, Maria Alvarez plants a garden in a vacant lot. She works hard to plant and cultivate it, but children keep throwing litter into the lot. The shopkeeper assures her that the children mean no harm. They have just never seen a garden before and do not know how to be respectful to it. Maria talks to the children, and eventually they begin to help care for the garden, and new friendships grow along with the plants.
Luisa resents that she has to spend so much time doing chores to help her mother. She feels as if her mother doesn't understand that she would rather be playing with her friends than working around the house. Then her mother finds a note she wrote as a little girl to Luisa's grandmother. The note gives both Luisa and her mother insight into each other's feelings and leads them to make an agreement regarding the chores that is satisfying to both of them.
Pepper and Mrs. Martinez are trying to solve a string of mysterious car break-ins. Meanwhile, Keesha is caught in the middle of a conflict between her friends Ethan and Kayla.
T.K. and his family moved from Oklahoma to California because a big dust storm in April of 1935 ruined their farm. Their life is hard as the whole family picks crops for a living and they live in a tent. When a photographer comes to their camp to take pictures of the workers, T.K. decides he wants to have his picture taken so the photographer can tell his story.
Isabel is worried about her friend Derrick because his big brother, Andy, is a bully. He yells at Derrick and makes him do things that sometimes get Derrick hurt. One day, Andy tries to convince Isabel, Derrick, and their friend Grace to sneak into the closed pool to swim alone. Isabel decides that it's time for someone to stand up to Andy.
Isabel's uncle, Arturo, flies into Cincinnati from Mexico City to play violin with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and to visit Isabel's family. Throughout the visit, Isabel works hard to teach her uncle English, however, it seems difficult for him. Isabel feels like he isn't really trying to learn the language. When the day of his performance comes, Isabel is amazed and impressed to find out that he is the featured performer. Later Isabel asks him to give her a violin lesson. He agrees, and Isabel finds out what it is like to try to learn something that is difficult, just as learning English is for Arturo.
