Terri Watkins felt left out because she was the only one of her crowd not to have a boyfriend. When two different boys asked her out Terri accepted them both. That way she felt she wouldn’t be boyfriendless again – even if one of them tired of her.
Julie Reid is taken from the children’s home by her Aunt Sadie, but she soon finds Aunt Sadie is a horrible, abusive aunt. Julie does not want to complain about Aunt Sadie to the home because she wants to stay near her lovely friend Emma Wallace, who has been adopted by a nice couple, the Trents. In the end Aunt Sadie is found out and the Trents adopt Julie as well.
A girl called Spring and her horse Storm have been living ‘untamed’ on the moors. They are taken into a town to stay with ‘normal’ people. Storm does not like living in a stable, or Spring in a house. They run away together and escape back to their moors.
Jan and Chris hate each other – and then they find they’re sisters.
Georgie Hudson is orphaned and taken in by her Aunt Meg after a spell in a Children’s Home. But her cousins, all boys, are not friendly because they mistakenly thought she would be a boy and do not welcome a girl. Their hostility gets worse when Georgie’s arrival brings changes to the household that they do not like, such as Georgie unwittingly inspiring Aunt Meg to put them on a washing-up rota. The boys are soon causing trouble for Georgie and want her out. Georgie is trying to find a way to win them over, but isn’t having much success.
Ringo the pup is leading a double life. He is caught between Sara Rochester, the girl who looks after him, and Tracey Morgan, who also needs him.
Susan Manners feels miserable with her lot. Her family can’t afford much so she often feels left out, Mum is sick, Dad is worn out because he is forced to work too hard, and she feels lumbered with the kids and has no friends. She wishes for some happiness, and then the Bird of Happiness appears. It comes from the Land of Ssenippah, the land where dreams come true and everyone there has a Bird of Happiness. Susan travels with the Bird of Happiness into Ssenippah to find happiness. She has a lot of amazing adventures but finds true happiness eluding her.
Marigold Shaw has lived in a Children’s Home until she is offered a foster home after she saves the daughter from an accident. Marigold is very happy until she wins three teddy bears at a fair. She soon finds that anything that happens to one of the teddy bears happens to the corresponding member of the household.
Text story. Callie Conway is bullied at school because she is plain, awkward and has no friends. Her Aunt Susan is no help because she is not really interested in Callie. Then Callie meets a kindred spirit in Clop, a pony who is being bullied by the other ponies because he is plain and awkward too. Callie gets a job at the stables so she can get close to Clop, but most of the things she does go wrong – as usual.
Janet Knight overhears Nurse Camp relieving her guilty conscience about accidentally switching two babies at birth and was too terrified to report it because she feared the dragon Sister. She gives a written confession to her mother before leaving on missionary work, who advises her to keep quiet. Janet realises she is one of the switched babies and Sally West is the other one. Fearing the heartbreak that speaking out would cause, Janet tries to discreetly get closer to her real family, but it always goes wrong.
