The desert of Western Australia is vast and unforgiving. It's a miracle that the little girl dressed in rags and abandoned in the sand is still breathing when an old miner discovers her. Even more so that he is able to keep her alive long enough to bring her to the town from which she'll take her name: Leonora. Sent to an orphanage, mute with grief and fear, Leonora slowly bonds with another orphan, James, who fights to protect her until both are...

Tillie's husband is away on business, the boxes in her new home aren't unpacked, and the telephone isn't even connected yet. Though she's not due for another month, sudden labor pains force Tillie to reach out to her estranged father for help-- a choice that means facing the painful memories she's been running from since she was a child.

When Rebecca demonstrates superhuman strength she brings unwanted publicity to the Huit octuplets, but much greater danger is in store when she acquires the power to shoot fire from her fingertips.

"Coo, a ten-year-old girl raised by a flock of pigeons, delights in finally making human contact, but quickly learns that our world is more cruel and complicated than she could have guessed"-- Ten years ago, an impossible thing happened: a flock of pigeons picked up a human baby who had been abandoned in an empty lot and carried her, bundled in blankets, to their roof. Coo has lived her entire life on the rooftop with the pigeons who saved her. Its...

Georgia longs for a baby, but she's had miscarriage after miscarriage since her daughter was born more than a decade ago. Through a miraculous egg donation, Georgia is thrilled to find herself pregnant, until she makes a startling discovery that changes her mind about how much she really wants the baby. Georgia's best friend, Alice, has a happy teenage daughter, a faithful husband, and a perfectly organized life. But her world spins off its axis when...

"Nicholas Weller is stunned to discover the adorable baby abandoned in the middle of his art gallery is his son. Asking teacher Emma Blake for help is a plea of desperation--he barely knows her, after all--and clearly, she has her own misgivings. But under Emma's tutelage, Nicholas is soon juggling diapers, formula...and unexpected feelings for her. He's passing the lessons on fatherhood, but is he ready to graduate to family man?" -- Page [4] cover....

During the month of June, Petal, one of the eight Huit octuplets, gets her power, which she uses to great advantage when Crazy Aunt Serena tries to kidnap Rebecca and throw her off the Eiffel Tower while the rest of the family attends a wedding.

On New Year's Eve, the octuplets Huit--Annie, Durinda, Georgia, Jackie, Marcia, Petal, Rebecca, and Zinnia--discover that their parents are missing, and then uncover a mysterious note instructing them that each must find her power and her gift if they want to know what happened to their parents.

April Fools' Day is long and hard for the third-grade Huit octuplets, but it is nothing compared to the challenges of Tax Day, through which Jackie discovers her special power and gift and learns more about their parents' mysterious disappearance.