A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her.

Crusty dragon Miss Drake's new pet human, precocious ten-year-old Winnie, not only thinks Miss Drake is her pet, she accidentally brings to life her "sketchlings" of mysterious and fantastic creatures hidden in San Francisco, causing mayhem among its residents.

High school seniors Bảo and Linh, whose feuding families own competing Vietnamese restaurants, conceal their budding romance, as well as Linh's desire to become an artist.

When her father goes missing leaving behind a cryptic note and everyone around her begins acting strange, twelve-year-old Olympia knows she must find her dad in order to figure out what is going on.

Juan de Pareja, the slave who prepares the paints and canvases of the artist Velázquez, describes his work with his master and the climate of Spanish court life.

Celeste, a mouse longing for a real home, becomes a source of inspiration to teenaged Joseph, assistant to the artist and naturalist John James Audubon, at a New Orleans, Louisiana, plantation in 1821.

At the urging of a very artistic new girl who encourages Claudia to practice art instead of caring for kids, Claudia considers leaving the club and the other members give her an ultimatum.

Eleven-year-old Harry Mancini lives in the house where Houdini spent his final years, so he has always been interested in the famous magician, and has even learned a few simple magic tricks; he just never expected Houdini to contact him from beyond the grave--and what Houdini wants him to do could well cost Harry his own life.

Fourteen-year-old Nikki Maxwell writes in her diary of her struggle to be popular at her exclusive new private school, then of finding her place after she gives up on being part of the elite group.

Claudia's friendship with a new student who shares her interest in art threatens Claudia's membership in the Baby-sitters Club.