Set in 1903, eleven-year-old immigrant Maureen Stevenson is ready to become a U.S. citizen--just as soon as she solves the case of who's stealing artwork from her employer's mansion.

In 1908, eleven-year-old Innie joins the library club at a settlement house that serves immigrant families of Boston's North End, but when items and money disappear from the settlement house, Innie's past as a troublemaker puts her under suspicion.

Ravi has just moved to the United States from India and has always been at the top of his class; Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and has learning problems--but when their lives intersect in the first week of fifth grade they are brought together by a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and the need to take control of their lives.

Maximilian lands on a ship of Irish immigrants bound for Ellis Island, where he meets a young girl named Ashling who tells her family's story and smuggles him through immigration, as well as a friendly pelican that takes him on a flight around New York Harbor in search of his damaged time machine.