Edward McGinty

Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition is a place where the rules don't apply. And the man who runs things -- legally and otherwise -- is the town's treasurer, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, who is equal parts politician and gangster.

With the help of their high school's newest teacher, four Hispanic students form a robotics club. Although they have no experience, the youths set their sights on a national robotics contest. With $800 and parts scavenged from old cars, they build a robot and compete against reigning champion MIT. Along the way, the students learn not only how to build a robot but something far more important: how to forge bonds that will last a lifetime.

Following the death of their estranged father, Joni and Wes Carver travel to Arkansas to deal with their inheritance: a rundown house in a rural town, arriving just in time for Decoration Week-end - wherein former residents return to celebrate their ancestors. It is here, in a sea of strangers living and dead, that Joni and Wes finally find their place in the story of their own lives.