When eleven-year-old Becca returns to her grandmother's rustic cottage for another summer, she finds herself seeing her beloved island in new ways. A hunting owl mistakes a bobbing ponytail for prey. A cozy sleepover on the beach takes on the tinges of a nightmare when a family of river otters shows up to claim their territory. An argument between a nestbound baby eaglet and its haranguing mother reaches operatic dimensions. Becca finds a dead bear...

Traveling through Europe with his parents and two younger brothers, eighth-grader Lucas misses his home in Austin, Texas, and is doing poorly in his remote schooling until an odd-looking coin thrown in the Trevi Fountain transports Lucas back to ancient Rome.

Geronimo's idea for a vacation filled with sandy beaches and blue skies gets off to a bad start when he ends up in a fleabag hotel that's falling apart.