Alex, nearly thirteen, flees with his grandfather across snowy Europe to escape the human and mechanical assassins that pursue them, trying to retrieve a powerful object.

A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.

"Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Miss V's father has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess, which he calls the Kensington System. It governs her behaviour and keeps her locked away from the world. He says it...

Selina receives a beautiful dress and shoes as a surprise gift but has difficulty finding an occasion to wear them--it being war time--until she and her cousins decide to hold a pageant.