Gus despairs of coming up with something interesting and impressive for his second-grade class's show-and-tell, until he gets a great idea while visiting Grandpa.
Gus doesn't want to give up the training wheels on his bike, even for a new five-speed bicycle, until Grandpa helps him learn how to get along without them.
Ethan and his best friend are loosers. But when a new student teacher comes to school, Etan tries to impress her and suddenly finds himself trying not to be a loser.
Eleven-year-old Bethany has a list of worries, including her younger brother's speech development, the lack of popularity of some of her friends at school, and especially the fear that her mother can't cope with all of Bethany's worries.
Twelve-year-old Maggie comes to dread biology class because her favorite teacher is insisting that she dissect a worm, an assignment that makes her feel very squeamish and awakens her to the question of animal rights.
When fifth-grader Jessica discovers that her parents adopted her because they mistakenly believed they could not have children, she wonders if they love her less than the brother and sister who were born later.
