Elmo's embarrassed by his eccentric mother, who's declared war on new next-door neighbour Mr Bamber over his plans to turn the local woods into a housing development. But then Elmo makes friends with the Bambers' new adopted child, Kuba, who claims to be an undercover angel and insists that Elmo tries to stop Mr Bamber's plans too. Together, they begin to put together a petition, but the cunning Mr Bamber has secretly planned to start his demolition work early. In the final showdown, Elmo and Kuba stand in front of the bulldozers and when that doesn't work, Kuba proves that she really is an undercover angel and raises the living dead, scaring Bamber and his demolition men away and saving the woods.

A genuinely funny story about adolescent friendship – with some excruciating moments!Jenny and Amy are best friends, they do everything together. Now they're about to start High School and Amy says it's the perfect opportunity to reinvent themselves and get in with the popular set. Jenny doesn't understand why Amy is so desperate to fit in all of a sudden – she thought they both enjoyed being unique. At first she tries to keep up with Amy: she diets, goes to the school dance, even dyes her hair (unsuccessfully!). But the harder she tries to be tall, thin and blonde the more miserable she becomes, and the two drift apart as Amy spends more and more time with the popular Rosie Henley and her followers. Jenny finds that a group nicknamed "the Martians" – due to their unfashionable appearance and oddball behaviour – appeals to her more. Finally she gets involved with the non-conformist brother of one of the Martians and commits social suicide by...