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.

Ten-year-old Beans Curry, a member of the Keepsies, the best marble playing gang in Depression-era Key West, Florida, engages in various schemes to earn money while "New Dealers" from Washington, D.C., arrive to turn run down Key West into a tourist resort. 1934, the middle of the Great Depression. Beans Curry is a member of the Keepsies, the best marble playing gang in Depression-era Key West, Florida. He and his gang know how to spot a whopper...

"When other commitments threaten the success of the Best Babysitters Ever, Malia is frustrated until she comes up with a plan to hire new babysitters and take a cut of their wages." --

At the same time that the Alden children's efforts to raise money for a new hospital wing are being sabotaged by nasty tricks, they find their attempts to befriend the new girl, Beth, frustrated by her strange behavior.