When the recipe for his grandmother's famous pumpkin pie is suddenly missing just before Thanksgiving Day, Alex and his friend Yasmeen try to solve the mystery of its disappearance.

"After a tough year, Lucy, Freddy, and Herb Peach are ready for vacation. Lucy wants to read all of the books on the summer reading list. Freddy wants to work on his art projects (when he isn't stuck in summer school). Herb wants to swim every day. Then their dad makes a big announcement: one of the inventions their mom came up with before she passed away has sold, and now they're millionaires! But Dad has bigger plans than blowing the cash on fun...

Liz and her friends are spending a fall weekend at the cabin at Marigold Lake, planning to bake pies and enjoy nature, but Lizzie forgets to put sugar in her berry pie--a mistake which proves fortuitous when she needs a lot of berries to feed a migrating goose who has fallen behind his flock.