Five young girls are thrust into the Deerfield Ballet's holiday production of The Nutcracker with only one thing in common: they don't want to be there! McGee's busy with her ice hockey team. Zan would rather be reading a good mystery. Mary Bubnik is a total klutz. Gwen prefers Twinkies to plies. And Rocky is just too cool for pink tights. How could their mothers possibly think ballet is good for them? Cast as the Rats and labeled losers by the more serious ballerinas (the Bunheads), in desperation the girls turn to each other, especially after the Bunheads lock the Rats out of the theater. Can they triumph over all the odds and pull off a real ballet in front of an expectant audience? This comic tale of preteen misfits is a wise tribute to the power of friendship and the pleasure of being yourself.

When, as a practical joke, Mary Bubnik, the worst dancer in the class, is nominated to compete for a chance to appear with a famous ballerina, McGee, Gwen, Zan and Rocky decide they must act.

When someone begins taking things from the Academy dressing room, Courtney suspects Mary Bubnik, whose family may have to end her lessons, because of financial problems

Because of her plumpness, Gwen is not allowed to go up on pointe and the Bunheads have begun calling her "Blubberina," so the girls mobilize to help Gwen lose that extra weight and get her toe shoes

To get an edge on the Bunheads over the summer, the girls plan to attend the Claude Harper Camp for Performing Arts, but they soon discover that the camp does not measure up to its advertising

Who's crying now?This is one spooky Halloween for the gang! First they get cast as bats in the ballet "Dracula." And then Zan gets the girls involved in a big mystery. Someone in Deerfield is scaring little old ladies-by yelling BOO at them and stealing their purses!If Zan, McGee, Rocky, Gwen, and Mary Bubnik can catch the crook, they'll be heroes. And the boy bats in the ballet will come to McGee's party. But if they fail... all the candy corn in the world won't cheer them up!Can the gang help save Halloween?