Marsha Riti

As her friends in the Critter Club animal shelter care for colorful aquarium fish, second-grader Liz and her family spend a long weekend at the beach, where Liz rescues a baby octopus and competes with an unfriendly young neighbor in a sand castle contest.

Valentine's Day is near, and to raise money for a charity called Puppy Love, Ellie persuades the other Critter Club girls to join her in selling and delivering singing telegrams.

When a broken ankle forces Marion to withdraw from the horse show, she finds a way to stay active by helping her friends at the Critter Club animal shelter find homes for a litter of kittens.

When she wins the lead role in a school play, second-grader Ellie neglects her friends in the Critter Club and their new animal shelter.