Describes the conditions of African Americans in the North and the South during and immediately after the Civil War.

Describes the daily life and activities of Mexican Americans in New Mexico during the early 1800s including information about their homes, community, and links to Spain and Mexico.

After her brother joins the family in Philadelphia at the end of the Civil War, Addy wants to be with him as much as possible, so she is jealous when he starts spending time with her friend's cousin. Includes information about the life of African Americans in Philadelphia in the 1860s and a recipe for letter cookies.

In colonial Williamsburg, nine-year-old Felicity's dancing skills improve when she changes from wearing clumsy shoes to dainty slippers but ultimately she learns that "Gracefulness is in the foot, not the shoe." Includes information on the education of girls in colonial America, focusing on dance, and presents square dance instructions.

Josefina hopes to become a "curandera" or healer like Tía Magdalena, and she is tested just before her tenth birthday when a friend receives a potentially fatal snakebite.

When a new girl arrives at school, Kirsten is jealous, completely forgetting how scared and lonely she felt the year before when she was the new girl in school. Gives instructions for making a friendship pillow like those made in the 1850s.

In 1932, Kit faces a very different Christmas because of her family's financial problems and allows her pride to estrange her from her best friend.

Molly is eager to meet a famous movie star at a War Bond rally, until she cannot find the money that her class had collected to buy a bond. Includes information on movies during World War II and a recipe for popcorn.