The first Christmas since Julie's parents' divorce is difficult for the whole family, but Julie finds comfort sharing the Chinese New Year traditions of her best friend, Ivy Ling, and thinking about new beginnings.

Azalea is not happy about being dropped off to look after Grandma Clark. Even if she didn't care that much about meeting new sixth graders at the Tyler Elementary Back-to-School Picnic in her Texas hometown, those strangers seem much preferable to the ones in Paris Junction. Talk about troubled Willis DeLoach or gossipy Melinda Bowman. Who needs friends like these! And then there's Billy Wong, the Chinese American boy who shows up to help in her grandmother's...