Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
Twelve-year-old Ben must cope with the loss of his father, who died the year before, and his mother's overprotectiveness when he enters the annual Striped Bass Derby on Martha's Vineyard.
In Korea in 1473, eleven-year-old Young-sup overcomes his rivalry with his older brother Kee-sup, who as the first-born son receives special treatment from their father, and combines his kite-flying skill with Kee-sup's kite-making skill in an attempt to win the New Year kite-fighting competition.
Determined to win a trophy of some kind, first-grader Roscoe swaps a hand-knitted sweater from his grandmother for the chance to enter his new neighbor's very clever dog in a trick contest.
