Four months ago in the snowy depths of winter, Alaric and Naia, two teenagers who'd never met, discovered they were living almost identical lives in different versions of Withern Rise, their riverside Victorian mansion. One day, they accidentally stranded themselves in the wrong realities. Now it's summer, and heavy rains have caused the river to overflow. Withern Rise's grounds are under water when Alaric and Naia find their separate ways into an earlier reality -- a small eternity -- and meet a boy called Aldous. Aldous Underwood. But who is this Aldous? Is he the old vagrant Naia has met in the present day, or an Aldous destined to die very soon, under mysterious circumstances? And will their meeting change Underwood history?

When Eben McAllister reads about the Seven Wonders of the World, he longs to escape the small farming community of Sassafras Springs and do some exploring f his own. No one else ever seems to want to leave Sassafras however -- not even his best pal, Jeb -- and so, for now, Eben figures he's stuck on the farm with Pa and Aunt Pretty until he grows up. All that changes when his pa, tired of Eben's moping, challenges him to find Seven Wonders in Sassafras Springs that can stang up to the real Seven Wonders of the World. And if he does? Then Eben will get the adventure he's been craving for -- a trip out West. Eben doesn't reckon he'll have any luck -- he can't think of even one thing that would be called "interesting," let along wonderous, in Sassafras, but he figures he'll give it a try; there's nothing else to do in Sassafras anyway. While his mission puzzles and annoys some of his friends and neighbors, Eben perseveres, little knowing that he is in for a big surprise. For what with a singing saw, a floating table, and a truth-telling loom (just to name a few), the Wonders Eben will discover among his neighbors, friends, and family will give him the adventure of a lifetime...without his ever leaving home. Told in a down-home narrative with glimmers of magical realism woven throughout, and illustrated with sumptuous drawings by Matt Phelan, Betty G. Birney's tale about a boy's journey of discovery reminds us all that extraordinary things can happen in the most ordinary of places...even in Sassafras Springs.

After his puppet Tolstoy begins to take over his thoughts, ventriloquist Frank decides to lock his puppet away for his own safety, but when Frank's son decides that he wants to get into the act, Tolstoy decides to use young Jason's new career choice to break free from his attic prison and seek his revenge.

No sooner is their first date over than Jules and Gen find themselves back at work after a JumpMan comes looking for them to tell them of their friend's involvement with Quincy Carter One and their plans to change the history of the world.