Josefina and her sisters distrust learning to read and write, as well as other changes their Tía Dolores is bringing to the household, because they fear they will lose their memories of their mother.

"Auntie is coming for a very special visit! Peek under the easy-to-lift flaps to see why a day with Auntie is filled with big surprises"--Cover.

"Popular author Aventurine Morrow is working on a biography of Genevieve Smithson, a veteran of the SOE--Britain's network of operatives in occupied France during WWII--and travels to York, England, to interview the aging survivor. Complicating matters, however, is Aventurine's nephew, Paul, who has accompanied her to the U.K. in an attempt to work through the grief of losing his father at sea. As the two travel together, hints of Aventurine's past...

When eleven-year-old Eddie Dickens's ill parents become "a bit crinkly around the edges," he is taken by his great-uncle and great-aunt, Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maude, and embarks on adventures that involve strolling actors, St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans, and a carnival float shaped like a giant cow.