Sissy’s younger brother, Chooch, isn’t a baby anymore. They just celebrated his second birthday after all. But no matter what Chooch does—even if he’s messing something up, which is basically all the time!—their parents just say he’s “helping." Sissy feels that Chooch can get away with anything! When Elisi paints a mural, Chooch helps. When Edutsi makes grape dumplings, Chooch helps. When oginalii gigs for crawdads, Chooch helps. When Sissy tries to make a clay pot, Chooch helps.

Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine. Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.

There is a bright yellow bus who spends her days driving. She loves carrying children from one important place to another. But as time passes, things change: new drivers, new routes, and new passengers. Yet, no matter where she is, the Yellow Bus finds joy and discovery in the world around her—and in those she helps along the way.

In his village in Upper Kwanta, 11-year-old Kofi loves his family, playing oware with his grandfather and swimming in the river Offin. He’s warned though, to never go to the river at night. His brother tells him ”There are things about the water you do not know. “ Like what? Kofi asks. “The beasts.” His brother answers.

1879, Mississippi. Young dreamer Lettie may have her head in the stars, but her body is on a covered wagon heading westward. Her father, Thomas, promises that Nebraska will be everything the family needs: an opportunity to claim the independence they’ve strived for over generations on their very own plot of land. But Thomas’ hopes—and mouth—are bigger than his ability to follow through. With few supplies and even less money, the only thing that feels certain is danger.