Great changes are in store for the highly creative and somewhat eccentric Applewhite family when money problems force them to open a summer camp for gifted children, who almost immediately begin to rebel, while a mysterious interloper watches from the woods.

"Mr. Lemoncello holds a contest for his young friends where they must race to bring interesting facts back to his library"--

One month before the state standards test are to take place, the Origami Rebel Alliance has found powerful allies in unexpected places in their fight against the FunTime test preparation program, but Principal Rabbski has not yet declared her allegiance.

Ten-year-old Jane Doe, the only student average enough to be excluded from the town of Remarkable's School for the Remarkably Gifted, is joined at her public school by the trouble-making Grimlet twins, who lead her on a series of adventures involving an out-of-control science fair project, a pirate captain on the run from a mutinous crew, a lonely dentist, and a newly constructed bell tower that endangers Remarkable's most beloved inhabitant--a skittish...

Welcome to the Herring Hotel! Meet Gabriel and his parents, whose job it is to look after the unusual guests who make their homes in this crumbling old place. Gabriel is particularly fond of Mrs. Kettle, a rather odd old lady with a secret. There's only one little problem-the entire hotel is about to tumble down. As cracks appear in the ceilings and bricks start to disintegrate, Gabriel begins to wonder, What if Mrs. Kettle's strange stories are true...