Already troubled by his parents' divorce, Bobby Canfield is further distressed when he learns that his father, who has coached him in running bases, intends to move away.
Great Aunt Lucy tells a story of her days as a slave, when she and her brother, Albert, learned the quilt code to help direct other slaves and, eventually, Albert himself, to freedom in the North.
Nine-year-old Tamika uses photographs, school yearbooks, movie ticket stubs, and other mementos to try to restore the memory of her grandmother, who has Alzeheimer's disease.