The everyday life of Arnold, a fourth-grader in the city of Hillwood, Washington, who lives in a multi-racial boarding house with his grandparents and a motley assortment of friends and neighbors.

The adventures of a daydreaming, jazz-loving, football-headed 9-year-old, who lives in a boarding house with his grandparents and some eccentric boarders; encounters life in the city with his best friend Gerald, a loofah-haired kid who is the keeper of the urban tales and coolest kid in class; and is tormented by the irascible Helga, who is secretly in love with him.—Anonymous