Eleven-year-old Cyrus knows he is not cut out to be a football hero or fireman like his adopted father, but it takes a skittish stray dog to teach him that he, too, can be brave.
Best friends Gabe and Oliver tackle family problems, bullying, and the challenge of dealing with the new kid in their sixth grade class, Reuben, who refuses to talk--and no one knows why.
Soon after her mother marries a man with three sons, sixth-grader Bea Embers fights to form a girls' soccer team at school, despite discrimination and setbacks.