Fourteen stories by American authors from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, including Duane Big Eagle, Nicholasa Mohr, Lensey Namioka, and Robert Cormier.
Abby Hayes, her own life spinning out of control, is worried that she is headed for trouble when she is chosen to write an advice column for her fifth-grade newspaper.
Young Abby, miserable while her best friend, Jessica, is away, cannot seem to do anything right, messing up her pal's baby-sitting job and falling into other disasters.
Fifth-grader Abby Hayes turns to her best friend Hannah for help when their teacher has to go tend to her sick mother and leaves Abby in charge of the class's holiday charity gift project.
After Abby bakes some cookies that everyone likes, she decides to hold a bakesale at school to raise money for writing camp, but when she learns that it is against school rules, she wonders if she'll be allowed.
Now that she's in sixth grade, Abby's discovering new friends and new talents. She's also discovering a major new interest: a boy in the seventh grade.
First, Abby and Hannah need to find the perfect outfits for fifth-grade graduation. Then Abby has to make plans for the summer. She decides to take swimming lessons and relax. But Abby's peaceful vacation is disturbed thanks to some unexpected house guests. Can her perfect summer be saved?.
Abby is home sick when partners for the science fair are picked; when she gets back, she finds her partner is a boy. Abby has to find a way to work with him.
