With her father out of the picture and her mother working long hours, twelve-year-old Cassie unconsciously describes her anger and confusion in a fantasy novel she is writing for school.
Cooper, confused about his half-American, half-Korean heritage, gains insights from Mr. Lee, the owner of the neighborhood grocery store, whose insistence on speaking Korean to Cooper takes the young boy from anger to understanding.
When Mama falls ill and Papa invests all the family's money in a new business, eleven-year-old Rosie Lepidus must go to work in a garment factory and soon gets involved in union activities.
Normally, no one dares to play in the yard where Digger and Tiger spend all their time, but when a girl invades, they soon realize that she has some brilliant ideas for playing with the junk found there.
The first graders have a great time dressing up for their costume party, but the festivities are nearly ruined when a third grade bully comes in and threatens Jim.
Freddy is nervous about the first-grade talent show, especially with Max bullying and teasing him, but Freddy's dad has an idea that might make Freddy a star and get Max to back off.
Depicts the real life events of fry cook George Crum, in simple text with illustrations, who invented the potato chip in an effort to serve the perfect fried potato dish to the famous but fussy Cornelius Vanderbilt at the Moon's Lake Lodge House Restaurant in 1853.