Follows Michael's summer at sleep-away camp through a series of postcards sent between him and his father.

One day, Duncan is happily coloring with his crayons when a stack of postcards arrives in the mail from his former crayons, each of which has run away or been left behind, and all of which want to come home.

On his visit to Chicago, Buster makes a new friend and sends postcards back home.

Buster sends postcards to his friends back home when he and his father go to San Antonio, Texas for the International Accordion Festival.

When his father takes him to visit Vermont, Buster sends postcards to his friends back home telling them what he is learning about maple syrup and the "mud season."

"Who is Gretchen Oyster? The discovery of a series of mysterious handmade postcards distracts Hartley from trouble at home. A poignant novel for fans of Rebecca Stead and Holly Goldberg Sloan. Hartley Staples, near-graduate of middle school, is grappling with the fact that his older brother has run away from home, when he finds a handmade postcard that fascinates him. And soon he spots another. Despite his losing interest in pretty much everything...