Livvy, the new girl at school, is a bully who ridicules the other children, and it is up to TJ and his guidance counselor father to work out a strategy that will improve her behavior--and save TJ's birthday party.
When Livvy chooses a goldfish as the class pet, some of the other children decide to freeze her out, and TJ has to choose between his friend and being frozen out himself--or find a way to make them see that their bullying behavior is wrong.
When TJ cheats on a history test and gets chosen to represent his school in a contest, he feels horribly guilty; worse, he finds himself being blackmailed for money by one of his classmates.
Third grader Katharine Carmichael enlists help from her cousin Crockett in order to beat out her classmate Vanessa in thinking up the winning idea for the school-wide service project.
Third grader Katherine finds that her mother's new job in the school cafeteria is causing her major problems and decides to take matters into her own hands.
Third grader Katherine is accused of stealing and thinks her little brother is a blood-sucking monster who is going to ruin the school's Halloween parade.