A story in the style of the familiar poem, "The Night Before Christmas," tells how a housefull of monsters, goblins, witches and the like prepare for Halloween.
When Randall changes to a new school, he pretends to be an anonymous hero until, when his third grade class plans a fundraiser, he finds that being himself is good enough.
Trying to be detectives, Mary Lou and her friends imagine that terrible crimes are being committed when Leroy, the worst kid who ever lived on Eighth Avenue, returns to the house next door.
While pondering how to buy her mother a birthday present with no money, Deena find a penny and follows a process of discovery about how pennies add up to nickels, which add up to dimes, all the way up to four quarters making a dollar.