Based on the author's family history, a young Armenian boy is forced to leave his home and parents to trek across the desert until he finds refuge in Lebanon--and only years later does he find the words to tell his own children the story.

Rather than be split up into different foster homes, twelve-year-old Basil and his eleven-year-old sister Dahlia leap off a train which jump starts an adventure of ever-increasing mishaps and lands them in the kitchen of a cruel celebrity chef.

In 1880s Colorado, young Henry is trying to keep his brothers together now that their parents are dead by writing stories about The Kid, and after he stops, his editor, Herbert, arrives at the same time as Snake Eye Sam, who is determined to take down The Kid.

"Rose must survive the plague. That is the objective her dying father gives twelve-year-old Rose and her brother, Lem, as he sends them away from their home. In the year 1665, London is overpopulated and still growing while a plague runs rampant through its households. Ever resourceful, Rose manages to find hope in new friends who help each other steal the essentials to survive the cruel streets of London. But Rose also has something that may help...