What do you do when your mother makes you invite the most obnoxious kid in your class to your birthday party?

Or when you have to wait another thirty-three and a third years to see a shower of stars?

Or your parents ship you off to fat camp?

Or you have to share your private lunch hour with a girl who's mean to you just because of the color of your skin?

In E. L. Konigsburg's funny and perceptive short stories, four young people cope with difficult situations and, in doing so, learn something that changes their lives.