Spencer and his little sister, Katherine, are flying to Pennsylvania for Christmas with their dad. While changing planes, a blizzard moves in and cancels all flights out of Hoover Airport: they must stay in a basement room with the other unaccompanied minors. Spencer and four others - a chubby boy, a non-stop-talker, a surly girl, and a rich kid - go AWOL and get in trouble with Mr. Porter, the Christmas-hating airport supervisor. The five misfits spend the night evading and enduring Porter's punishments, discovering all sorts of things in back rooms, making sure Katherine gets her visit from Santa, and finding among themselves a new kind of family. Written by [email protected]

When her brother disappears during a brief travel layover in Mexico, Mitch begins a desperate search that will eventually lead the young divorcee into the capital city's most notorious neighborhood. But even with the aid of the American Ambassador, her plight is only met with indifference and inaction from the authorities. As the story unfolds, Mitch is forced to look for help in the least likely places as she races against time in a dangerous quest to find answers and locate her brother.