Marty finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home and tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat dogs.
While planning a wedding as part of an assignment for her eighth-grade health class, Alice thinks about her father's and older brother's love lives and learns that you cannot prepare for all of life's decisions.
Along with the usual concerns of senior year in high school, Alice faces some very difficult situations, including vandalism by a group of Neo-Nazis and a friend's confession that a teacher has been taking advantage of her.
Convinced that the old woman who recently moved into the neighborhood is really the deceased Mrs. Tuggle, Lynn and Mouse try to find help in fighting her witchcraft.
Despite a New Year's resolution to be nice to their neighbors the Malloy girls, the Hatford boys find themselves continuing their rivalry and war of practical jokes.
Disgusted that a family with three girls moves into the house across the river, nine-year-old Wally and his three brothers declare a practical joke war on the girls.
The Benson boys return to Buckman for spring vacation and concoct a prank involving a non-existent ghost, continuing the practical joke war between the Hatford boys and the Malloy girls.
