As spring arrives on Gardam Street, there are surprises in store for each Penderwick, from neighbor Nick Geiger's expected return from the war to Batty's new dog-walking business, but her plans to use her profits to surprise her family on her eleventh birthday go astray.

Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie is frantic to win a million dollars by completing a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot's game to help his family and his best friend Abby who is going blind.

In a town suffering after the major employer closed under a cloud of scandal, Morgan and her friends uncover a mystery as they try to learn if her supposedly dead boyfriend is living nearby under a different name.