Miss Mackle's third graders share December holiday traditions --Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, and Korean New Year-- with each other and with Harry's great grandfather, who has just moved to a nursing home.
Doug discovers that though being Harry's best friend in Miss Mackle's second grade class isn't always easy, as Harry likes to do horrible things, it is often a lot of fun.
Follows the school activities of second-graders, Harry and Doug, as they participate in a secret mission to celebrate "Charlotte's Web, " learn how to make green slime, and put on a skit warning about the dangers of smoking.
It's almost summer vacation and the students in room 2B are having trouble concentrating on their butterfly project, until a frightening-looking new teacher comes to supervise the Suspension Room and Harry is sent there as punishment for unruly behavior.
When Horrible Harry's pet cat, Googer, sneaks a ride and gets into the school building, third-graders Harry and Doug have to catch him before anyone else does, which means going into some forbidden places.