Suspended from school for cussing at a mean teacher, John “Spud”' Sweetgrass at least still has his job selling french fries from a curbside “chip wagon.” But he notices that something stinks — literally. It’s the smell of rancid cooking oil at a polluted Ottawa beach. His suspicions aroused, Spud follows Dumper Stubbs, a creepy delivery man who services local restaurants and chip wagons. Spud gets angry when he sees Dumper living up to his name, dumping oil into a storm drain and causing terrible pollution in the river. When Spud blows the whistle, he loses his job. Enlisting the help of his buddy Dink the Thinker, and Connie Pan — whom he calls his girlfriend though she isn’t exactly that — Spud thinks he has a chance of regaining his job and stopping the Dumper’s harmful activities. In the background of this offbeat farce are serious issues that Spud must also deal with, including his father’s death, his mother’s withdrawal into grief, and his own awkward transition through adolescence. Brian Doyle expertly interweaves comedy and important contemporary concerns of young people in this vivid story with a message.

Spring has arrived, and Martin O’Boy has finally found a true home with Grampa Rip and a job at the Pure Spring soft drink company, though he lied about his age to get it. However, not everything is perfect. Martin feels bad about lying to kindly Mr. Mirsky, Pure Spring's owner, and sometimes Grampa Rip’s brain goes very far away. There's the mysterious yet familiar man in the park. There are Martin’s memories. Igor Gouzenko, the famous Soviet defector, has unexpectedly reappeared. And Martin learns that his very peculiar, dirty-mouthed workmate and boss, Randy, is a blackmailing crook. When Martin falls in love with the beautiful Gerty McDowell, whose old grandfather is being robbed by Randy — with Martin forced to act as an accomplice — Martin’s happiness, his sense of duty, and his love for Gerty collide. It won't be easy, but he has to find a way through all of it and preserve the joy of spring. This sequel to Boy O’Boy is Brian Doyle at his brilliant best, deftly blending deeply serious, even tragic moments with great humor and pathos.