What would you do to keep from being "held back" and watching your friends move on to junior high as you repeated the 6th grade? Abby has always coasted along in school, but that plan won't work anymore. She has just a few months to bring all of her grades up, finish ALL of her homework, and complete an extra credit assignment. BORING.

Sadeed has always been one of the top students in his class, but now his teacher wants him to help his little sister answer letters from a girl in America. It would be improper for him to answer the letters himself, but his sister is so slow and her English is not very good. Why should Sadeed get sucked into doing more work and not getting the credit for it.

Find out exactly what Abby's extra credit assignment is and how these two stories are connected in Andrew Clement's book Extra Credit.