Giff, Patricia Reilly

Ms. Rooney tells the class they are to work together in groups to make inventions; but Linda Lorca, the bossy leader of Emily Arrow's group, can't get anyone to cooperate. Will the group learn to work together in time?.

Halloween should be fun, but Beast is in big trouble. He was working really hard on his spelling homework when Ms. Rooney read The Halloween Horror to the class. Then she told the students to write to the author. "Say anything," Matthew suggests, and Beast does. He tells the author he loved the dog in the book. And he even invites the author to come to the school's Halloween parade, never dreaming he might accept. Then Beast finds out there was no dog in the book. And now, to make Beast's Halloween really horrible, guess who's coming to the Polk Street School Halloween parade? And guess who's been assigned to be his helper?.

Assisted by her cat Max and her friend Cash, Minnie tries to find Mary Moon, a valuable racing pigeon that has disappeared just before a big race.

Each student in Ms. Rooney's room celebrates the December holidays by being a secret pal to a classmate.

When twelve-year-old Lidie leaves Brazil to join her father and brother on a horse ranch in New York, she has a hard time adjusting to her changed circumstances, as does a new horse that has come to the ranch.

Emily Arrow is class monitor and reports Sherri Dent for leaving her seat with out permission. Emily wonders what Sherri will do to get even.

Emily Arrow determines to get the most fish in the library's Fish for a Good Book contest but she doesn't take into account the equal determination of Dawn Bosco.

Dawn and her friend Lizzie are eager to get started on the camp treasure hunt.