Cheaney's novel opens with a bus accident on a torrentially rainy night and the promise that one character will be famous by book's end; she then rewinds nine months with news of a robbery in the sleepy Hidden Acres subdivision. But these early tinges of suspense wind up being peripheral as the novel unfolds. Over nine months, Cheaney (My Friend the Enemy) follows the stories of nine characters, fourth through seventh graders, who ride Mrs. B's school...

When her father is injured, fourteen-year-old Nazia is pulled away from school, her friends, and her preparations for an arranged marriage, to help her mother clean houses in a wealthy part of Karachi, Pakistan, where she finally rebels against the destiny that is planned for her.

Lizzie is shocked to see that Aunt Amanda has returned home from her vacation with an injured puppy. Bonita is a street dog with a hurt leg. Lizzie and her friends decide to raise the money for the puppy's operation. Will Lizzie be able to help this sweet dog?

"When Humpty Dumpty arrives at City Hospital with a cracked shell, it's up to Doctor Glenda and Nurse Percy to put him back together again"-

"When his teammate Stu is injured during practice, Manny promises to keep quiet so he can play, but then Stu starts acting funny, and Manny struggles with whether to keep his silence or break his promise and let his team down" --

Moving to New Jersey from Philadelphia was stressful, but at least Jada has found Ms. Marianne's Academy of Dance, where she can continue to dance ballet--but she is not sure that the other girls at the Academy welcome her, and when she sprains her ankle in practice she is sure that the whole universe is against her.

When Eva hurts her wing, she visits the hospital and meets a new friend, Rocco, who has a broken leg--but wearing a sling for a week prevents her from writing in her diary, and she turns to her friends and family in order to keep it up to date.

Just before a big show, Jasmine breaks her arm causing the Major Eights to ask Leslie to stand in, but Jasmine worries the band will like Leslie better.

What starts out as a perfectly ordinary day in the Small house turns into Stiches Saturday when Cleo gets a cut on the head after her twin brother, Jack, accidentally pulls down their "Toy House."