A summer that promises to be eventful turns into something extra special when the four Melendy children become friends with the orphaned Mark Heron.

"A teacher visiting his dying brother in the Bronx. A mysterious journal from the nineteenth century stolen from a boarding house. A therapy clown and an assassin, both presumed dead, but perhaps not dead at all... "--Book jacket.

The four Haas siblings, who grew up in a turbulent home environment with a mother--a struggling actress--and a father who was once a successful playwright, learn how to depend on their fragile bond as brothers and sisters when their father dies.

The day twelve-year-old Stanly finds a finger bone growing into a skeleton in his yard everything changes--his seven-year-old sister Miren adopts the skeleton, which only children can see, as a friend and playmate, and as her health continues to deteriorate Stanly blames the skeleton and tries to drive it away, although it is the only thing that seems to give Miren any joy.

Stella helps her brother Sam get up and dressed in the morning.

Willa grudgingly takes in her brother, Justin, who is spiraling out of control, unable to manage his sobriety and the ongoing effects of a brain injury suffered when he fled a terrifying act of violence committed by his first boyfriend.

When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.

Karen has three older brothers and sometimes they are a pain. She is so mad, she decides not to talk to any boy and maybe then her brothers will stop treating her like a girl.

A girl in a large family is looking forward to her first "double digit" birthday, but soon discovers that growing up brings some unwanted changes.

"Louise's parents have passed away, and she's returning to the small Southern town where she grew up to get their house ready to sell. It means she'll have to spend time with her younger brother--and their old grudges make that a terrifying prospect. But childhood hurts pale in comparison to the dangers posed by what still lives inside the house."--