After a lifetime of New Age "adventures" with her weirdo hippie mom, fifteen-year-old Maddie is realizing a lifelong dream and visiting New York City. Armed with her 130-item to-do list, Maddie hits the streets of New York with her friend Anna and Anna's brother, Thomas. Maddie drags her friends around on an epic quest for the ultimate art-show outfit, oblivious to the fact that they don't share her passion for vintage clothing. Three days into the trip, a most unwelcome surprise--the arrival of Maddie's mother--threatens to derail the entire adventure. As her mother's obsession with dietary trends and fortune-tellers takes center stage, and everyone's tempers get thin, Maddie has to face some ugly facts about how she's been treating her friends.

When Mike Longridge gets himself in trouble yet again, he is given a choice: juvenile detention or an outdoor program called Explore. He opts for Explore, but soon finds himself wondering how he is going to survive ten months with the hippies and keeners in the program. He's never felt so out of place and is certain he will never get the hang of the outdoor activities. Will Mike go back to his old trouble-making ways or will he finally find a place to belong?

Maddie's summer plans of entering a portrait contest and winning the grand prize trip to New York City are derailed by her mother, who signs them both up to volunteer on an organic farm.

Mercedes lives for art. Her mother is a famous sculptor, and since she was a small child Mercedes has dreamed of following in her mother's footsteps. But it's hard living in the shadow of a legend. And when Mercedes's application at a prestigious art school is rejected, she is devastated and walks away from her art. Try as she does, she finds it hard to build a life as a regular teen. And when life serves her a traumatic situation, her art is the only thing that will pull her through.