Ming Miao tells her kittens about the antics of one of their ancestors, Sagwa of China, that produced the unusual markings they have had for thousands of years.
Raised on a commune by a granola-munching ex-hippie mother, fifteen-year-old Moonbeam realizes that nothing is normal in his life and so sets out to change things.
Unhappy with her own ethnic group, Mona Chang, a Chinese-American, decides to become a Jew. After all, if one has to live as a minority, choose the best. A witty look at ethnicity, multiculturalism and the melting pot.
In 1901, a twelve-year-old Japanese boy is shanghaied and serves as cabin boy aboard the bark Sindia, dealing with homesickness and hardships on the long and exciting journey from Kobe, Japan, to Ocean City, New Jersey.
