A young boy living with his aunt and uncle, who are immigrants from Russia, watches as his family slips into poverty during the Great Depression.

A mother and her adult daughter act as the waitstaff in a beautiful home and mostly pass unnoticed by the inhabitants. However, when the daughter develops a fascination with an inattentive man who lives in the home, disappointment and devastation result when he moves away.

In a 20th century American town, a young man spies on a decisive duel between his neighbor and her son.

As an old woman revisits her family's quintessentially American history, she finds a way to respect and love her parents, despite the scandals and tragedies they endured.

A college counselor watches anxiously as her teenage son applies to college without her help. As her son plans for his future, the counselor and her husband reflect on how quickly their lives have changed, seeking ways to steady themselves in the midst of middle age.

Two sheltered children are put under the care of a governess with unorthodox ideas about education. The children have never loved learning until now - but these novel ideas draw the disapproval of their mother, who is determined to get rid of the new governess.

A working class man who wants his children to have everything their rich friends have purchases "Semplica Girls" — girls formerly living in poverty who sign contracts to hang as ornaments in people's yards — for his older daughter's birthday. When his younger daughter frees the Semplica Girls, the family is plunged into financial disaster.

A wealthy family moves into a mansion on an island and raises several generations there. As the years pass, different family members show how things have both changed and also stayed the same within the house.

Andrew, a dad and teacher at a high school, gets an email one day from an old college friend, Michael, who has become incredibly famous and rich after graduating. Ahead of getting a drink with Michael, Andrew reminisces about how they met.

The children in a family grow tired of hosting their middle-aged cousin, but his expulsion brings unexpected strife to the family.