Ted Staunton

Nick can't shake off classroom competition from Lindsey, who soon becomes his arch enemy. For one thing, she hogs all the show-and-tell time. Not only that but she gets to be message monitor and she's chosen to sit with Ralph the bear for silent reading time. Far worse, however, is the fact that Lindsey's family might just buy the house Nick's family is renting. The final stroke comes when their teacher decides on partners for science projects and pairs him off with you guessed it Lindsey. It takes a series of hilarious misunderstandings to shake Nick's preconceptions about Lindsey. By the time it's all over, Nick realizes that, despite Lindsey's planned family holiday in Florida and all the advantages she seems to have, he may have a few blessings of his own.

"Danny has been a con man in training for most of his young life, but nothing has prepared him for the con of his life: impersonating a missing boy. Much to his astonishment, his new 'family' accepts him as their own--despite the fact that he looks (and sounds) nothing like their missing relative. But one old cop has his suspicions about Danny--and he's not about to close the case"--P. of cover.

Cyril finds out that his friend Maggie's mother is going to have a baby and that her family's house is for sale.

The Monkey Mountain Monster finds Lindsey a reluctant day-camper, partly because most of the kids come from another school in her town of Hope Springs, but mostly because of mouthy Mona, who's a put-down artist extraordinaire and who's never without her gaggle of admiring girlfriends. Lindsey wants no part of it, but Mona has lured Lindsey's best friend, Caitlin, into her crowd of disciples, which leaves Lindsey out in the cold. To complicate matters, there's a mysterious monster, known as the Ooly Gooly, roaming through Hope Springs. On a dare Lindsey agrees that she will sleep out in her backyard one night, but when she finds out that Caitlin won't join her, she realizes she really is all on her own. An unexpected volunteer agrees to join Lindsey, and when the monster shows up the kids can't contain themselves. Chaos and panic set in with lively results.

Cyril may be small for his age, but he does not worry about bullies because of his partnership with Maggie, the "Genius of Greenapple Street."