To a thirteen-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig who cannot produce a litter.

Rob manages Soup's campaign for class president in their small Vermont town.

In 1938, with the help of a lady doctor and an aging, card-cheating, dice-rolling horse thief, a seventeen-year-old orphan steals thirteen horses from Chickalookee, Florida's doomed rodeo, and finds a family in the process.

As Valentine's Day approaches their Vermont town of Learning, Soup and Rob experience several forms of love.

The further adventures and misadventures of Rob and Soup, two boys growing up in a small Vermont town.

A visit from Uncle Virus and his motorcycle gang stimulates Soup to new and ingenious schemes, involving a cache of moonshine, a motorcycle competition, and revenge on the dreaded Janice Riker.

After a tragic airplane crash that claims the lives of most of his family, sixteen-year-old Tate goes to live with his wealthy great-grandfather and his adopted black great-aunt Vidalia and he finds unexpected solace in the stories of her childhood spent travelling with a Depression-era Negro baseball team.

Rob and Soup engineer an incredible appearance by Santa and his sleigh in their small Vermont town.

Soup's crazy plan to help his town's basketball team to victory includes constructing a musical instrument called a spitzentootle and snaring the evil Janice Riker in an unpleasant trap.