When Sarah Cain, a self-involved big-city newspaper columnist, travels to Pennsylvania for the funeral of her Amish sister, she soon discovers that she is the legal guardian of her five Amish nieces and nephews. Rather than choose to move to Lancaster County to finish raising them there herself, or let them be separated by the foster care system, Sarah decides to take them with her back to Portland where she believes she can make a new life for them. However, she soon realizes that the modern...

The year is 2010. Teenager Alan Tracy, sent off to a distant boarding school, is the youngest of the sons of Jeff Tracy, a retired American astronaut. Jeff, a widower, has formed International Rescue, and raised his sons to act as a secret, volunteer organization which uses highly advanced technology to save lives worldwide. Jeff and his older sons John, Virgil, Scott, and Gordon, who like Alan were named after the Mercury Seven astronauts are joined in this effort by Lady Penelope and her...

In an ordinary day, a deranged man has a rampage in a diner and randomly shoots the costumers. The survivors of the tragic episode are deeply affected by the shooting and have the most different reactions: the youngster, Anne Hagen, becomes popular at school telling her version of the shooting; her friend Jimmy Jaspersen becomes mute and closes himself to the outer world; the waitress Carla Davenport neglects her baby and has several vulgar relationships with men; Dr. Bruce Laraby loses his...