In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Aunt Saffronia drops the Sinister-Winterbottoms off at the Sanguine Spa, which is possibly owned by vampires, and where they must continue to complete the tasks they have been set if they are to see their parents again.

"It is summer's end and Sea Breeze, the family's beloved estate on Sullivan's Island, must be sold. It is an emotional time of transition as Mamaw and the three sisters each must face loss and find a new place in the world. Harper, the youngest sister, arrived at Sea Breeze intending to stay only a weekend, but a rift with her wealthy, influential mother left her without direction or a home. During this remarkable summer, free from her mother's tyranny...

Teenaged Isobel "Belly" Conklin, whose life revolves around spending the summer at her mother's best friend's beach house, reflects on the tragic events of the past year that changed her life forever.

Mandy and her friend James are vacationing in Ireland, home of the wild Connemara ponies. A wounded foal offers clues that someone is trying to steal the ponies, and Mandy and James set out to find the horse thieves.

Twins Theo and Alexander and their sister Wil are abruptly dropped off at their Aunt Saffronia's house, where they learn they must complete a series of tasks in order to see their parents again--and their first assignment is at a waterpark.

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father's dive bar, in Washington.