It's almost Thanksgiving, and Richard Best can't stop thinking about Ms. Rooney's Candy Corn contest. Whoever can guess the exact number of yellow-and-orange candies in the jar on Ms. Roney's desk gets to keep them all. The only problem is Richard has to read a page in a library book for each guess.

Smelly Matthew, who sits in front of him, knows they'll never win. "We're the worst readers in the class, " he says. But Richard won't give up. He can already taste those Candy Corns. And before he knows it, he has. Three fat juicy ones.

What will Ms. Rooney do when she finds out?

Emily Arrow may be a poor reader, but she's terrific in math and is also the fastest runner in her class. In October school gets even better when a newcomer from Florida, Dawn Tiffanie Bosco, joins the class and sits next to her.

When Emily sees that Dawn's a better reader and a faster runner, she tries to accept it with grace. Emily is still sure it will be fun to have a new friend to show her"fish face" to and share secrets with.

But then Emily discovers something awful--Dawn's a thief And to make matters worse, no one will believe Emily.