Rosa takes a chance: Ten-year-old Mexican American Rosa Sanchez wants an education more than anything, but when her teachers leave Texas in search of a better life, how will her dream come true?Mandy the outsider: In 1939, in Seattle, Washington, as the Japanese invasion of China increases general hostility towards Japanese Americans, nine-year-old Mandy finds the adjustment to her new school as well as the prejudice against her Asian friends extremely difficult to bear.Jennie's war: In 1944, ten-year-old Jennie Fleming is doing what she can to help win the war -- she's hoeing weeds in her "Victory Garden" on the "home front."Laura's victory: As World War II draws to a close, Laura comes to admire her Japanese American neighbor whose father is fighting for the U.S. Army in Europe, but will she be strong enough to defend her new friend from the persecution of schoolmates?