On an isolated Texas ranch, Dr. Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they welcoming Calvin and Justin Bell, a newly arrived African American father and son.

"Never knowing his parents, eleven-year-old Stewie Little and his brother have been raised on a farm by their older sister...And every day Stewie goes door to door selling fresh eggs from his wagon--a routine with a surprise just around the corner. It's his new customer, Marilyn. She's prickly and guarded, yet comfortably familiar...Marilyn has a reason for keeping her distance: a secret no one knows about...But whatever difficult times lie ahead,...

"Abby Hubble lives in an unhappy home in the Sierra Nevada foothills where her father makes life miserable for her and her mother ... One day Abby witnesses a man dump a litter of puppies into the nearby river. Diving in to rescue all seven ... she takes them to an abandoned cabin ... Grieving widower Elliot Colvin, ... looking for solace, retreats to the hunting cabin ... What he discovers is not at all what he expected: seven puppies and one determined...

1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don't approve, he's found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers. The group is inseparable. But Steven is in turmoil. He's beginning to acknowledge that his feelings for Nick amount to more than friendship. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor draws the US into World War II, Suki and his family are forced to leave their home for the internment...

"Brooke is a divorced single mom, financially strapped, living with her mother, and holding tight to the one thing that matters most: her two-year-old daughter Etta. Then, in a matter of seconds, Brooke's life is shattered when she's carjacked. Helpless and terrified, all Brooke can do is watch as Etta, still strapped in her seat, disappears into the Los Angeles night. Miles away, Etta is found by Molly, a homeless teen who is all too used to darkness...