Kit lands a summer job writing a children's column for her local newspaper. She decides to look for story ideas at the Cincinnati Zoo, where her friend Stirling works as a guide and her old friend Will, the hobo, has a job cleaning cages. As Kit noses around the zoo, she stumbles into some strange doings in the monkey house. Her reporter's instincts tell her that she's onto something worth investigating—and she's determined to get the story.

Kit is visiting Aunt Millie in Mountain Hollow, Kentucky, in 1934. When a professor arrives to study Kentucky mountain traditions, Kit is thrilled to help with her research—until it becomes clear that somebody doesn't want "outsiders" nosing around. Kit decides to find out who's making trouble—even if it means venturing into Lonesome Hollow in the dark of night.

Kit Kittredge spends a week of her summer vacation volunteering at the local theater—she wants to write a newspaper article about a play that's opening soon. It even stars famous actors from New York City! But behind the scenes, Kit and her friend Stirling discover more drama than they bargained for. Set in Cincinnati in 1935.

Kit writes a newspaper story about how her dog, Grace, saved the Kittredges and their boarders from a house fire. Grace becomes a local celebrity, and all the attention is a lot of fun for Kit—until the night Grace mysteriously vanishes. But who would take Kit's dog, and why? At the end of the story, the Looking Back section provides interesting facts about pets during the Great Depression.

To help her family make ends meet, Kit takes a job helping an elderly lady at a rundown mansion called Rivermead Manor. When she discovers a hidden room in the old house, she is sure its secrets will make a great newspaper article. But then Jessamine, Kit's long-lost friend, comes to visit and seems to be in trouble, yet she won't confide in Kit. Determined to help, Kit follows clues, but will both of these stubborn mysteries lead to a story that's bigger than she could have imagined, or will they stay hidden at Rivermead Manor?

Kit can hardly believe her luck when she wins tickets to a sold-out jazz concert, and a chance to write a news story about it! But when sinister pranks threaten to cancel the show, Kit's research turns into an investigation. Then a valuable trumpet goes missing, and Kit herself is accused of theft. Can Kit prove her innocence and put a stop to the mayhem before the real thief sends the band packing? Includes an "Inside Kit's World" essay about the popularity of jazz and swing music during the Depression.

Kit is in Kentucky to visit her brother, Charlie, and her Aunt Millie. She's looking forward to riding horses and touring Mammoth Cave. But trouble has come to the quiet Kentucky hill country, and with locals blaming the CCC workers, Kit fears that Charlie's life is in danger. Then Kit discovers that the culprit may be someone she knows. Soon, Kit isn't sure who she can trust. But one thing is certain: she's got to find the culprit—before things get worse.