While speculating on the merits of her father's new girlfriend, Dez teams up with Sherman, a vegetarian and animal rights activist, to design posters for the school play with humorous results.
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.
Eleven-year-old Philo and his friend Cristabel kidnap a neighbor's neglected dog, hoping to make his owner appreciate him, but plans go awry when the dog makes friends with a pack of unruly strays.
Ernie, having spent time with his friends taunting neighborhood cats, finds himself living a nightmare when he wakes up one morning to discover he has become a cat himself.