When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his eleventh birthday, it brings forth memories from his past, and, with the help of a new friend at school and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are eventually answered.

Making friends with Dawn, the new girl in the class, is hard for Emily especially after she becomes the fastest runner in the class and steals Emily's lucky unicorn.

Casey enjoyed Tracy's company during summer vacation but becomes increasingly jealous of her irrepressible new friend when she joins Casey's fifth-grade class.

Unhappy at school, Marilyn fantasizes about how much better life will be next year when she is in the second grade.

When Destiny Washington gets the notion that everyone's favorite teacher, Ms. Katz, is going to be dismissed from the Zigzag Afternoon Center, she and classmate Yolanda think of several ways to save her.

When Matthew finds out from J.P., the weird girl next door, that their teacher loves to read, he worries that everyone at his new school will know he's a terrible reader.

"Judith stopped talking long ago when Mom left her in the care of beloved Aunt Cora. Going back into a regular fifth-grade classroom won't be easy, but she has her Dog and a new friend who will help her through"--

Summer for Richard Best, nicknamed Beast, means facing the two ordeals of summer school and losing his best friend, who is moving to a distant state.

Follows the humorous mishaps of a second grader who is learning to read.

Bears beware: Mitchell is afraid when the children from the Zigzag Center go camping overnight, but he tries to be brave and discovers that nature is not so scary after all ; Super surprise: When Destiny Washington gets the notion that everyone's favorite teacher, Ms. Katz, is going to be dismissed from the Zigzag Afternoon Center, she and classmate Yolanda think of several ways to save her.