Four stories set in the fictional town of Odyssey follow Mark, Patti, and other members of the Whit's End gang as they learn of loss, love, and of life.
Mark's curiosity leads him into trouble when he stays with Mr. Whittaker, the owner of Whit's End, while his mother is in Washington, D.C., trying to work out her differences with Mark's father.
Summer camp doesn't seem like much fun when Mark finds out that he is sharing a cabin with a bully from Odyssey and that his best friend Patti has a boyfriend.