Spring is marked by changes, small and great, in Holling’s school and around the world. At Camillo Junior High, Mrs. Sidman takes over as school principal, as Mr. Guareschi has been reassigned. Also, Mrs. Baker gets a call from the Army, reporting that thousands of American troops are entering Khesanh to relieve the soldiers there and to look for those missing in action, including Lieutenant Baker. Furthermore, Holling hears from his father that Kowalski and Associates is going out of business, and Meryl tells him that her family will be moving, probably in the next few weeks. In the news, President Lyndon Johnson announces he will not be running for president again. Then comes the most shocking news of all: Martin Luther King Jr. has been shot and killed, and riots in major cities ensue the next day.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Baker devotes Wednesday afternoons this month to coaching Holling in running; Holling gets faster, but runs behind the pack of eighth graders on his team to keep from provoking their wrath. Opening Day at Yankee Stadium comes around, and Holling reminds his father of the tickets he received from Joe Pepitone and Horace Clark. He needs his father to pick him up from school at noon so they can make it into the city for the game by 2, but his father forgets.