Three generations of the Nickel family reunite when fourth-grader Anna, her Mom and Dad, and four-year-old sister Isabella relocate to Oakwood, Kansas.
When her sister, star-athlete Jakarta, finally joins them, Dakar feels much safer and happier in Cottonwood, North Dakota, where she and their parents are living for a year, but she still longs for their home in Africa.
"Jupiter and her family are buskers--folk singers and musicians, moving on when the tourists do--but her life is turned upside down when her newly adopted cousin Edom comes to live with them for the summer"--