Although Sophie wants to be helpful and good, sometimes she ignores her mother, father, and grandmother and must have a time-out.

Stella is unnerved by a bullying group of weasels who say mean things about her humble home until her mother offers words of comfort and her father drives the trailer to a new location where kind friends are found.

When the Depression hits in Cairo, Illinois, and Oscar Ogilvie's father must sell their home and vast model train set-up to look for work in California, eleven-year-old Oscar is left with his dour aunt, where he befriends a mysterious drifter, witnesses a stunning bank robbery, and is suddenly catapulted onto a train that takes him to a different time and place.

"Sophie and her mother make very special treats for their party, but Sophie worries there won't be one left for her"--

"Sophie's parents tell her to say 'Hello,' 'Thank-you,' and 'Goodbye,' but the words stick like glue in Sophie's mouth and won't come out"-- Provided by publisher.

Relates events in the childhood of architect Secundino Fernandez, who left his beloved Havana, Cuba, with his parents, first to spend a year in Spain, and later to move to New York City.