A visiting author teaches five friends about the power of words and writing.

Although his teacher insists there are stories everywhere, Ralph cannot think of any to write.

Kate Youngblood is heading into an age where her eyes are less blue, her charm worn out, and soon no one will ever truly look at her, want to know her, again. Except one. Sam Grist is Kate's most promising student. An unflinching writer with razor-sharp clarity who gravitates towards dark themes and twisted plots, his raw talent is something Kate wants to nurture into literary success. But he's not there solely to be the best writer. He's been watching...

Gooney Bird Greene takes charge of a class project as she and her fellow students in Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade class learn about fables by each making up their own based on an animal that begins with the same letter as their first name.

When thirteen-year-old Joan moves to California in 1972, she becomes friends with Sarah, who is timid at school but an imaginative leader when they play in the woods, and after winning a writing contest together they are recruited for an exclusive summer writing class that gives them new insights into themselves and others.