Joni Jackson is adopted by Kate and Robert Stewart. But things keep going wrong and Joni is beginning to think she is a jinx.
Sheila Ward and her younger brother and sister have lived in a children’s home since they were orphaned. When Sheila becomes deaf after an accident, their hitherto disinterested aunt and uncle suddenly take an interest in them. This is because they are after Sheila’s compensation money. So when Sheila’s hearing returns, her guardians blackmail her into pretending to still be deaf.
While on holiday in Africa, animal trainers Cyril and Mavis Tanner find an English girl living with chimps. Pretending she is their niece, Cherry, they bring her back to England to perform in their act – and to slave for them.
In 1925, Syd and Maud Weston force their niece Meg to fake being a Magic Robot. Meg goes along with the fraud because she thinks her uncle is sending money to pay for her brother Tommy’s treatment at a clinic in Switzerland. But the truth is that Uncle Syd is pocketing the money and Tommy is in the care of an old woman in the vicinity.
Rebecca Forrest is a clever, talented and smartly dressed girl. But this is not making her popular with her classmates and she is becoming a target of bullying. So Rebecca starts deliberately underachieving.
Claire is a selfish girl who does not want to share her home. So she gets rid of all the girls her parents try to foster from the Children’s Home.
The morning after a dreadful storm, a mysterious new girl named Mystine Marsh turns up at Grey Towers Boarding School and everyone treats her like an old friend. Only Lynne Barnes realises there is something strange about Mystine.
Ann Smith is a competent gymnast and her neighbour Terry Sykes a beginner, but with her own coach. Ann and Terry make a secret arrangement for Ann to take Terry’s place in her training sessions. But this leads to tangled situations.
Debbie Bruce has cynophobia (fear of dogs) because she was bitten by a dog as a baby, and she is too ashamed to explain the problem. As a result, the phobia is causing constant misunderstandings, ruined opportunities and other problems for Debbie.
In Victorian Times, rich girl Dinah Warren is thrown into the workhouse when she is suddenly orphaned and her heartless guardians refuse to look after her. Then Dinah is put to work in a coal mine. Things keep going wrong for Dinah, which make her unpopular with the other children and earn her the nickname “Detestable Dinah”.
