On May 31, 1889, as the waters rise in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Sarah Beth, her mother, and Vincent, a boy she likes, struggle to save what they can from the flooding but when the dam collapses the reader is invited to choose between three possible endings for Sarah Beth and her family.

Sixth-grade art student Logan and his cousin Becca find themselves transported back to 1856 Le Havre, France, where they must somehow introduce the young caricaturist Claude Monet to the local artist Eug©·ne Boudin, who history says convinced Monet to make the change to oil paints.

While helping to clean up their local community theater, twelve-year-old Mason and his friend Aubrey suddenly find themselves in 1598 London where a discouraged William Shakespeare has just lost his lease on the Globe and is thinking about quitting writing--and it is up to the children to come up with a plan to recover the theater and convince Shakespeare that the best is yet to come.