The Summer Olympics inspires Kylie Jean Carter to take gymnastics lessons, but even better than that is making a new friend, Abby, who is deaf, and starting to learn sign language.

December comes to Texas and there is a catfish fishing contest at Arrowhead Lake with a special prize awaiting the winning adult/child team; Kylie's brother and father are entered as one team, and Kylie Jean convinces her grandfather to enter with her as another team--and Kylie dreams of catching Granddaddy Whiskers, a legendary blue catfish that has eluded fishermen for years.

"When Travis discovers an abandoned baby skunk, he can't help but bring it home and take care of it. Stinky, as Travis names him, settles in pretty well. But when Travis discovers Stinky's litter-mate, Winky, who is in need of some help, things get complicated around the Tate house"--

In rural Texas in 1901, thirteen-year-old Callie nurses a butterfly with a broken wing and delivers a baby lamb, despite her mother's disapproval of Callie's "unladylike behavior."

Calpurnia and her grandfather rescue a barn owl from the river and, with the help of Dr. Pritzker, dead mice, and some detective work, nurse it back to health.