During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.

In an effort to prevent family history from repeating itself, meddlesome mom Daphne Wilder attempts to set up her youngest daughter, Milly, with Mr. Right. Meanwhile, her other daughters try to keep their mom’s good intentions under control.

When the five puppies stumble upon the Five Power Rings of Inspiron (alien artifacts abandoned on Earth 16 years ago), they all develop super powers, and are enlisted in Captain Canine’s battle against the evil Darkon alien Commander Drex. Captain Canine is commander of space ship Megasis and is from the planet Inspiron. He is the mortal enemy of the Commander Drex. In charge of protecting Princess Jorala and the Five Power Rings from Drex, Megasis places the rings in hiding on the planet Earth, and takes the form of a German Shepherd, intending to stay on earth in very deep cover. Adopted by aspiring young comic book artist Ian Shaeffer, and renamed Captain Canine, he spends 16 happy years on Earth, as Ian recounts the stories of his space adventures. But when the five Buddies discover the Power Rings and instantly develop superpowers, Captain Canine has to train them very quickly indeed – for Commander Drex is headed back to earth, and this time he’s determined to succeed.

Admiral Frank Beardsley returns to New London to run the Coast Guard Academy, his last stop before a probable promotion to head the Guard. A widower with eight children, he runs a loving but tight ship, with charts and salutes. The kids long for a permanent home. Helen North is a free spirit, a designer whose ten children live in loving chaos, with occasional group hugs. Helen and Frank, high school sweethearts, reconnect at a reunion, and it’s love at first re-sighting. They marry on the spot. Then the problems start as two sets of kids, the free spirits and the disciplined preppies, must live together. The warring factions agree to work together to end the marriage.