Cinder, a gifted mechanic and a cyborg with a mysterious past, is blamed by her stepmother for her stepsister's illness while a deadly plague decimates the population of New Beijing, but when Cinder's life gets intertwined with Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

While his human Elliot adjusts to his new home and stepfamily, Gizmo, an evil genius guinea pig, searches for a new evil lair where he can plot to take over the world, but Gizmo is constantly thwarted by Elliot's little stepsister Jasmine (who likes to play dress-up), Abuela (who may or may not like to eat cavies), and Wedgie (a Corgi superhero and Gizmo's nemesis).

"Fizzy struggles to find her place in her blended family after her parents' divorce, hoping her entry in the Southern Living Cook-Off will show them she is more than just a leftover kid"--

"The house seemed to sit apart from the others on Katydid Street, silent and alone, like it didn’t fit among them. For Violet Hart—whose family is about to move into the house on Katydid Street—very little felt like it fit anymore. Like their old home, suddenly too small since her mother remarried and the new baby arrived. Or Violet’s group of friends, which, since they started middle school, isn’t enough for Violet’s best friend, Paige....