Robert is not the best student in his class; he's a slow reader and hates math, but he does try. When his teacher, Mrs. Bernthal, announces a contest to win a treasure chest, Robert decides to win points by being the best helper in the school. He hands out flyers advertising his services to all the teachers, and, among other jobs, he is put in charge of the classroom library, where it becomes his task to track down whoever is scribbling in the books. Robert would prefer that the suspect be Lester, the class bully, but all the evidence points to his own best friend, Paul. These are small episodes in an ordinary boy's life; Seuling mines tension from daily events and in the slenderest of children's concerns. Brewer's odd, funny drawings supply some comic touches to this pleasant story.