In 1960s New York, fifth-grader Ruthie, a Cuban-Jewish immigrant, must rely on books, art, her family, and friends in her multicultural neighborhood when an accident puts her in a body cast.

As she struggles to recover and survive, seventeen-year-old homeless Charlotte "Charlie" Davis cuts herself to dull the pain of abandonment and abuse.

"Genie's summer is full of surprises. First, he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the first time to spend it with their grandparents in Virginia--in the COUNTRY! The second comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. Thunderstruck, he things Grandpop must be the bravest guy ever, until he notices that he never leaves the house. Then Ernie lets him down when he has no interest in learning how to shoot. Genie wonders--is...