Derek Norris, the uncle of 11-year-old Chris Anderson, has been missing for the last seven years. By his instructions, Uncle Derek is presumed dead. He has willed the Coach House in the village of Herbertville to Chris for any worthwhile purpose. Chris, along with friends Lynne and Samantha (Sam), enter the Coach House and immediately sense things are not normal. The most welcome signs are from Uncle Derek's inventions: a talking video screen named Theta (which displays words on her screen) and a robotic typewriter named Otto. Both Otto and Theta give Chris a pre-programmed warning from Uncle Derek, who implores Chris with the task of uncovering a terrible conspiracy taking place in Herbertville.

It's been a year since The Herbertville Chronicle was first printed. Among the gifts Chris, Lynne, and Sam receive for the occasion is Uncle Derek's new invention: a two-way unit that projects words and stationary images. Chris and Sam go off to the countryside to try out this device when they hear strange noises. They spot a boy quavering, dropping something – and disappearing.

Chris and Sam rush to the place where a boy had just disappeared and discover interesting artifacts. One is a map of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario). The other is a compass on which is inscribed ""To Tecumseh/From Brock."" When Chris and Sam point the compass north, the strange noises emerge again. Together they are transported to Fort George, a Canadian fort during the War of 1812, in the headquarters of Sir Isaac Brock.

Chris and Sam come face-to-face with General Brock. He has just won a major battle over the Americans in the War of 1812. Chris and Sam introduce themselves, explaining they are looking for a boy from their own time. General Brock explains the boy has been taken captive by another Canadian regiment.The General signs an order for the boy's release, which Chris and Sam take north to Queenston.

Lynne has been kept abreast of Chris and Sam's whereabouts through their two-way word-transmission system. She understands the plan to rescue the boy from the present day. An aide to Tecumseh leads Sam and Chris on the trek north towards Queenston. Along the journey, Chris loses General Brock's order for the boy's release. They devise a new plan involving another central Canadian figure in the war, Laura Secord.Lynne, meanwhile, has been researching the War of 1812 through books written by both Canadians and Americans. She tries to warn Chris and Sam that the Americans are planning to invade Queenston.

Chris and Sam carry out their new plan to rescue the boy from their own time. They escape just as the Battle of Queenston takes place. General Brock rides to them with his blessing. Chris and Sam, along with their newly-found friend, figure out how to return to their own time. They inform Lynne to go to the fields and turn the priceless compass to point south. Lynne does as instructed, and all of them are reunited in the present day. There, they learn what happened to General Brock at the Battle of Queenston.

Alex is now helping Lynne to prepare the next edition of The Herbertville Chronicle. It will feature stories on General Brock and other figures from the War of 1812. Before they are finished with the paper's layout, Alex and Lynne discover that the story of Cinderella is being erased. Cinderella calls out for Lynne and Alex to journey to Book World. After a trail of blank pages leads them to a crossroads, Lynne and Alex venture to where the villains roam.

Lynne and Alex encounter the Evil Queen and Mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Both insist that the Book Destroyer is only after the villains. When Lynne and Alex argue that this doesn't make sense, the Evil Queen and Mirror launch into a song filled with words that hint to danger in stories. The Book Destroyer then erases Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Once again, Lynne and Alex search for clues, this time in a forest. There they run into the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, who is apprently erased as well.

Alex and Lynne follow a trail to Dracula's castle. Once there, Dracula informs them that conflict is essential to a good story. The Book Destroyer erases Dracula, and in his wake, Lynne and Alex find a note from another book character. They follow that note to the Book Destroyer's cave.

Lynne and Alex encounter the Book Destroyer. She is bent on wiping out villains and conflict from all books. But Lynne suggests that the Book Destroyer herself is a character–a character from a most uneventful book. Confronted with the truth, Lynne and Alex offer the Book Destroyer a new life: The Herbertville Chronicle would run a contest in which readers would make a new plot for what had been a boring book. Once Alex and Lynne return to their world, they find Sam crestfallen. She and her family are leaving Herbertville.

Sam informs the others that she will be moving to Victoria, British Columbia, but they will not sell their house in Herbertville. The Herbertville Chronicle readies a want ad, informing that the house can be leased. Outside, a middle-aged author named Rita is trying to start a children's book. She is getting nowhere, prompting Sam to chide Rita for not understanding what problems children go through.

Chris and Lynne want to keep in touch with Sam, but Rita dissuades them from a preposterous scheme. Sam needs to make her own friends at her new home in Victoria, British Columbia.

Sam's departure is the lead story in The Herbertville Chronicle. Before she leaves, Sam receives a surprise: Rita has decided to write a children's book about a girl who must leave her friends. It is indeed a beginning, rather than an end. Later in the day, Rita suggests that a story idea Chris thought was his own, is based on The Shooting of Dan McGrew. (And I hope I've spelled that correctly. If not, you can enter the correct spelling by hitting ""Contribute"" on the Synopsis.)

Chris has returned from the library with many story poems. Using elements from all the books, he, Lynne, and Alex concoct a story of their own to fool Rita. While Chris and Lynne run off to tell their story, Alex daydreams a dramatization of The Shooting of Dan McGrew. (And I hope I've spelled that correctly. If not, you can enter the correct spelling by hitting ""Contribute"" on the Synopsis.)

It's August, and with Alex at summer camp, Lynne and Chris must run the Chronicle alone. Their biggest trouble is finding a lead story. But a ghost provides them with more than a lead story. The note which he leaves, advises Lynne and Chris to write a mystery story. Lynne and Chris have a mystery of their own: who is this ghost? After a bit of research, they discover he is Mr. Wetherby, former principal of a local elementary school. He has decided to move in with Lynne and Chris to help run the Chronicle.

Mr. Wetherby is posing a problem for Chris and Lynne. He wants to help them in every aspect of writing. Alone, he sings his disappointment on being alone during summer vacations. It's the pointer Chris and Lynne use to convince Mr. Wetherby he is needed at the school.

It's December, and the Chronicle staff receive a letter from Sam. She is expecting to visit Herbertville while her father is attending a meeting there. Sam provides Lynne, Chris, and Alex with a selection of poems that satirize famous styles of Carl Sandberg and others. But before long, a power surge rips through Otto and Theta, disabling them into reading and typing, ""Come with speed/Your help we need."" It's an urgent message from Dr. Couplet, who briefly informs Lynne and Chris that the Trialviron galaxy is about to explode.

Alex, Chris, and Lynne think of every possible contingency that could develop in their efforts to help the people of Trialviron. Alex and Chris are transported to The Poet's Pocket, where Dr. Couplet shows the sun revolving around the galaxy is about to explode. She warns them that the transporter in The Coach House must be turned on if the galaxy's populace is to escape. Alex and Chris tell Duneedon they will help, but they make certain demands. Most of all, they demand that Duneedon be the first to be transported to the unpopulated galaxy Zeberon. But that would mean having to negotiate with Tritan, the Emperor of the Galaxy Trivia and Duneedon's enemy.

Chris and Alex travel to the lair of Emperor Tritan, who seems to be speaking in antiquated language. To stay on good terms, Chris and Alex overuse clichés themselves, prompting Tritan to allow the people of Trialviron to pass through his galaxy en route to Zeberon. But Duneedon is not content to go anywhere except Earth. While he is alone, he instructs a duplicate to take his place at the transporter. Chris, Alex, and Lynne feel relieved when they learn the trek to Zeberon was a success. Little do they know…

Dr. Couplet does not want to leave her life's work on the doomed galaxy Trialviron, but Chris and Alex talk sense into her. They leave The Poet's Pocket in the nick of time. All the residents of Trialviron have transported to the Galaxy Zeberron, except one: Duneedon. He quickly traps Chris, Alex, and Lynne in a last-ditch effort to return to Earth. Before he is transported, though, Emperor Tritan sends a power surge that destroys Duneedon–and all the transporter equipment. It appears Alex, Chris, and Lynne are about to die as the countdown to Trialviron's destruction nears zero.

Chris, Lynne, and Alex resign themselves to their doom on Trialviron, which would occur but for two events. One is that the countdown to Trialviron's destruction passes before an explosion can occur. The other is Sam's return to The Coach House a few days ahead of time. Theta and Otto quickly tell Sam to activate the transporter, and she saves Alex, Lynne, and–just as the destruction of Trialviron is complete–Chris. The next day is not as comparatively peaceful as one would like. Everyone is arguing over which story should go where in the holiday edition of The Herbertville Chronicle. Theta and Otto inform everyone that order must serve the day. Thus Chris chairs a meeting at which everyone allows for his or her story to appear in an orderly fashion. As a final gesture, Sam shows everyone a copy of A New Beginning, which she co-wrote with Rita over the past five months.