Penelope's Pearls explores the different worlds of two friends growing up in New York City during the early 1900's. Penelope's privileged life is changed by a stray cat who connects her to Jimmy and the struggles his family endures while living in the tenements of East Harlem. Readers will experience city life through the eyes of children during this unprecedented wave of immigration and come to understand that sometimes one little act of kindness is all it takes to change someone's life forever.