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- Violence is growing on the streets of the kids' neighborhood and everyone is concerned about it, but at same they time everyone try to ensure all kids are safe. Regardless, all students are enthusiastic with the talent show the Hurston Middle School is going to have. Lenni (Blaze Berdahl) is coordinating everything along with Alex (David López), her friend Kiambu (Damon Harris) and Walter (Eugene Byrd), but the envy of not being the director grows on Walter to the point he quits the group and cause trouble with everybody on his way, even with people he doesn't even know. In this meantime, Rob (Todd Alexander) is writing an article to the school's newspaper about the track runners and ends up befriending Victor (Víctor Sierra). While they're getting back to home together, they cross paths with Miguel (Jose Soto), leader of the "Thunderheads", the gang Victor used be a member of. Rob questions Victor about him being from a gang, but Victor explains the "Thunderheads" are different, but even though, he leaves hastily visibly upset. The next day the school appears vandalized with graffiti on the walls. Everyone thought it was something random but Rob recognizes one of the symbols - "Th" - from Miguel's shirt.
- Everyone is worried and outraged with the vandalism that happened in the school. Just as Rob (Todd Alexander) recognized the "Thunderheads" 'symbol, Walter (Eugene Byrd) did too and quickly spoke out loud, being immediately reprimanded since anyone could've made it. Principal Kelly (Ellen Foley) tells Lenni (Blaze Berdahl) and the rest of the talent show committee there's a possibility of suspend it because of these attacks. The Ghostwriter team embraces the cause as another case to solve. The team starts by listing the suspects they have: The "Thunderheads", as they're mad at Victor (Víctor Sierra) because he left the gang and Walter, because he's mad with the talent show committee. Ghostwriter brings them some senseless messages that, when put down together in the right order, just make of Victor one of the suspects too, regardless Rob's opinion about him. In this meantime, Rob goes to Victor's house and knows a little more about his tough life, in a not-so-safe community, taking care of younger brothers and sisters and his older brother, paralytic because of a shot fired during gang wars. While writing to Ghostwriter, Lenni comes up with an idea of a petition involving students and teachers in favor of the talent show, so it doesn't get canceled. Later, another act of vandalism, this time in the auditorium Mrs. Kelly announced the talent show would not be canceled, with more offensive graffiti and once again with the "Thunderheads"' mark.
- Jamal Jenkins' family is preparing for his older sister Danitra to go to college. That night Jamal sees strange things happening in the park, then receives a strange message on his computer from a mysterious being who asks, "Where are the children? Are they all right?" The next morning he revisits the park and finds a strange coded message, then finds a warning in his locker. His attempts to find out what's going on lead him to Lenni Frazier, a girl who lives with her musician father in an apartment above the bodega owned by the parents of Alex Fernandez and his little sister Gaby, who is the latest victim in a string of backpack thefts committed by unusual culprits. Lenni also receives a strange message in her notebook after speaking to Jamal. They find out they're the only ones who can see letters being rearranged on signs and posters, and decide to try and contact the mysterious spirit.
- Lenni persuades the team to enter a scavenger hunt-style contest in order to win the chance to be drawn into an issue of Hoodman. Their efforts are hindered by an embittered comic book artist named Manny Gites, who will stop at nothing to win the contest disguised as his own character, Stoop Dude. Meanwhile, Rob continues to be distant from the team, but makes friends with an eccentric homeless poet.
- While working in the new community garden set up a cleaned-out landfill with Lenni, Rob, and Sally Lewis, Gaby suffers a headache and faints for no reason the doctor can see. She seems better after having Grandma Jenkins' soup, but then collapses and is hospitalized. Rob tells her dad many are getting sick with similar symptoms, but they haven't spent time together so it's probably not a virus. The next day, the garden bunnies are found dead. Except Jamal, who's stuck house-cleaning, the Ghostwriter Team does a survey to find out what's causing the illness, and Ghostwriter confirms the connection they see: everyone has either visited or eaten produce grown in the garden. They return to it and Ghostwriter reads some incomplete words then show them what they can from: foul-smelling barrels buried underground.
- Sally evacuates the garden when it's found the barrels contain a toxic cleaning chemical called technocloroethelyne, or "perc", someone illegally dumped rather than dispose of properly. Ghostwriter manages to reveal a bit more writing on another barrel first. After many failed phone calls, the team contact the Environmental Protection Department, but they won't be able to remove the barrels for several months since they need to make sure no other site is worse first. The alternative is to catch the dumper since that person must by law remove them, but they need to learn who it is. Gaby worries her life is in danger since the rabbits' ended, so Alex tries to find out the chemical's effects. This time, Tina is missing out on the investigation after her brother Tuan gets into an argument with their parents about skipping school to focus on his music, and Tina (and her sister) are confined to home too since her parents say she's been helping them too little. The Ghostwriter Team decide to approach local activist Fanny Mae Banner, who hosts a show exposing crooked actions - but they first must prove the perc case is an actual scandal. Lenni's dad and Sally seem to be falling in love. Gaby finds the warning sign put up to keep people out of the garden is ineffective since kids don't get it. The team learn the barrels came from Eco-Safe Chemical Co., but the company says the buyer must've dumped it. Thanks to Ghostwriter's letters, they're able to trace it to French Garment Cleaners. Momo works there, but when Rob and Lenni approach him he seems nervous and is reluctant to say if he knows who the hauler responsible for taking and dealing with their perc is.
- After getting an anonymous call from someone asking them to meet to hear who handled the barrels, Lenni and Rob go to find it's Momo. He plans to secretly check his boss' files to see. The team find the garden fence is broken and some people are desperate enough for its old free-food produce to enter despite their new warning signs. Momo can't get to the records, but Ghostwriter finds three companies before the words the team gives him narrows it down to Miller's Hauling Company. Lenni finds her dad is starting to date Sally, and resists. Tina and Alex go to Miller's Hauling Company posing as school reporters. It turns out John Miller is about to get the Citizen of the Year award, but they hear him angrily talking on the phone with someone about shredding something, and when they briefly "interview" him he seems nervous to be asked about disposing of chemicals too dangerous for a landfill. Ghostwriter finds part of a memo in the garbage and they conclude he's going to shred evidence of him dumping the perc, and possibly steal French Garment Cleaner's invoices to link him to it.
- With French Garment Cleaners' boss' invoice's stolen, Miller doesn't have to worry about them being read as evidence before he can shred them. Momo says his boss won't talk to kids even for an investigation, so presses them to bring an adult, but they still need proof to convince anyone to back them. Alex and Tina return to the hauling company to record the documents being shredded. Ghostwriter confirms they're the invoices, but in trying to get the camera close enough to view the documents, they're discovered. They escape and even share a kiss, but the papers are shredded without a clear shot of words. The two take them since they ended up in the garbage truck they were hiding in, along with the tape they managed to get of him remarking he did shred something secretly important. They approach Fanny Mae Banner, who says she'll do their story - but she needs a witness or something strong enough to condemn Miller definitely. They decide to have Momo's boss talk to her. They're also determined to make sure Miller wastes no time cleaning out the perc.
- There is an ongoing election for President at kids' school and Alex (David Lopez) is one of the candidates and with the help of his friends, Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed) and Lenni (Blaze Berdahl), he's trying to write the perfect speech in order to beat his adversaries. But someone is decided to sink Alex's candidature by spreading intimate secrets about his personal life, so the team starts doing what they do best: Investigate.
- Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed) and Rob (Todd Alexander) are walking on the street when they find the cart, box and books of the eccentric poet friend of Rob's, "Double T" (David Patrick Kelly), scattered on the ground with him gone. Rob rallies the team asking for help to find his friend and, together, reading T's poems, they start unfolding part of his past, trying to figure where he could've been. With help of Ghostwriter to decipher some metaphors used in the poems, the kids figure "Double T" was once a soldier in Vietnam and the owner of the Grocery Store of which "T" used to stay in front, reading his writings, tells Rob about a shelter nearby he sleeps over from time to time. Rob goes there and the guard, who was arguing with a girl about giving private informations, tells him he doesn't see "Double T." in a while. Outside the shelter, Rob speaks with the girl, Lisa (Kristy Graves), and learns that "Double T." a.k.a. Thomas Truborn is, in fact, Thomas Norburt, Lisa's father.
- Jamal is playing a computer game inside Mr. Brinker's video store, when a man comes in and gives Mr. Brinker a piece of paper that enrages him. Tina comes in to buy a blank videotape, but insists the one Brinker hands her isn't new, he yells at her and runs her out, then yells at Jamal, complaining about kids running off his customers and only buying cheap things. Jamal goes home and writes a complaint letter against Mr. Brinker. He goes back to the store at 7 P.M. and drops it in the slot in the door, then firecrackers go off behind him, and he rips his sleeve in the door slot. After Jamal leaves a fire breaks out in the back room. The next morning Ghostwriter sends Alex, Gaby and Lenni a message to get to Brinker's store, where the police are investigating the cause of the fire. Lenni picks up Jamal's letter without realizing what it is. Meanwhile, Jamal tries to help Craig, the new kid, get in a game of basketball against Momo to see who's the better player.
- Tina (Tram-Anh Tran) is accompanying her mom who's picking up a clothing job when, for her surprise, the client is Lana Barnes (Patricia Barry), an actress of old movies she is very fan of. Tina asks for an autograph and end up receiving a proposal to become the personal assistant of the actress. Grandma Jenkins (Marcella Lowery) is in the hospital and, as expected, her grandson Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed) and granddaughter Danitra (Samaria Graham) are making more fuzz than needed about it. In the next day Tina starts by answering letters from fans. Everything goes well until she picks up one the sounds kind of threatening. The actress says it's normal and asks Tina to let it go. She does until a kid passes by the street and drops a postcard through the window with more than just a random threatening message. Tina rushes to her friends, scared - The Ghostwriter Team is back in business.
- Jamal and Lenni find out their new friend can't see or hear, but can communicate through words, so they type to him on the computer. He doesn't know who he is or where he came from, but knows he used to be a man. They name him Ghostwriter, and try to crack the coded message Jamal found at the park, along with a button that says THABTO. Lenni has recommended Alex, who's an expert on mysteries and codes, so he goes to him. Gaby believes the stolen backpacks are being left in the junkyard, with only the lunch money missing from them. Alex and Jamal go with her.
- Alex becomes a member of the Ghostwriter team. Jamal suspects THABTO is connected to the gang of people stealing backpacks, who wear green two-headed masks. The team asks Ghostwriter to find more THABTO buttons, and the search leads them to the Party Animal store where an order was placed for four buttons. Ghostwriter leads them to a locker at school that's connected to one of the THABTO members, but they don't know who. Gaby reveals she also got a coded message in her backpack, and the team now tries to crack two codes and decide to call on Ghostwriter for help.
- Ghostwriter makes contact with Gaby, and she'd made a fourth member of the team. Alex finally catches somebody using the school locker Ghostwriter led them to, and follows the kid to the arcade where he joins three others who are playing a game called Double Defenders, about two-headed aliens. Alex finally figures out how to crack the coded message Jamal found, and they discover the THABTOs are meeting in the corner of the navy yard the night before the Double Defenders tournament for "the final secret ceremony". Alex decides to infiltrate the THABTOs to find out what they're up to, and Lenni and Jamal work out a coded note to fool one member into not showing so Alex can fill his spot.
- Alex gives the wrong name during the THABTO ceremony and is found out; he and his friends are chased through the navy yard by the three remaining members. They manage to escape and regroup to figure out the THABTOs' plan. Going over the tape recording of the THABTOs' ceremony, they decipher the group's chant to figure out their plan for the Double Defenders tournament.
- Mr. Brinker accuses Jamal of starting the fire in his store. Jamal denies being there the night before, even though the police have a surveillance camera that show somebody at the drop slot at the time before the fire. Ghostwriter starts asking Jamal about the F.B.I. and copyright infringement, so he and Alex head to the library to find out what Mr. Brinker was so upset about the other day. Gaby and Tina work on a video to try and figure out who set the fire, tracking down the cab driver who took the man to Mr. Brinker's and find out he left for Washington D.C. the same night. Lenni reads Jamal's letter and finds out he was at the video store and wants to know why he lied to her. The police further question Jamal about his alibi for the time of the fire, and he finds himself lying to his parents and grandma as well because he thinks the truth will land him in jail.
- Lenni is furious with Jamal for lying to her about being at the store the night of the fire. Jamal confides in Craig that he's being accused of starting the fire even though he didn't do it. Ghostwriter makes contact with Tina, and the team comes together to explain Ghostwriter to her, and she becomes a member of the team. Ghostwriter warns the kids that 'videos are key' to the fire mystery after finding out the 'blank' tape Brinker sold Tina had a movie on it. Alex suspects the man who came to Brinker's store is an FBI agent. Craig comes to Jamal's defense when Lt. McQuade tries to use Jamal's cap he left at the store as evidence against him. Jamal confesses to the team about being at Brinker's store, and tells them about a delivery truck that was around back the night of the fire.
- Gaby and Tina track down the delivery driver Jamal saw at Brinker's store the night of the fire, and find out he supplies blank videotapes. Craig has Jamal and Alex help him sneak in to Brinker's store to check the back room where the fire broke out, to find the evidence they need once and for all to solve who set the fire.
- Lenni (Blaze Berdahl) tells the other kids about the threatening message she got and they decide to investigate who's behind it. Rob's (Todd Alexander) father does not approve his interests in writing poems but his friendship with the homeless eccentric poet "Double T" (David Patrick Kelly) gets stronger to the point he decide to experience his life on the streets for a day. Despite the troubling message, the competition goes on, and the kids have a new picture with new clues to decipher. And when they do, they meet Stoop Dude character face to face and end up getting false directions of the one of the agents' locations, impairing not only their progress, but also all other competitors' as well.
- Shocked after being recognized, Manny Gites (Mike Jefferson) runs away from Lenni (Blaze Berdahl), leaving all his stuff on the ground, including a package with a carnival mask made of something that resembled a formal letter. The next day the whole team assembles at Lenni's apartment and together they fill the gaps in the cropped letter and discover that Manny might be cheating in the contest because his own comic character, "Stoopdude", was rejected by the company organizing the contest. Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed), Alex (David López) and Tina (Tram-Anh Tran) decide to confront Manny at his house but his aunt doesn't believe the kids until they prove to her. In this meantime, Lenni, Gaby (Mayteana Morales) and Rob (Todd Alexander) head to the final location of the contest, minutes earlier than Manny, who is being chased by the other half of the team and his aunt. Lenni rushes to the finish line, Manny is caught by Jamal and up confessing his frustrations to the President of the comics company and then The Hoodman himself hands the winners' trophy to the team and, of course, they all get to appear as super-heroes of the next edition.
- Alex (David López) accuses Rob (Todd Alexander) of being the one responsible for the defamatory flyers because of the text fragment he and Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed) found, but Rob evades and leaves both kids alone. Tina (Tram-Anh Tran) suggests they make a video footage trying to show that Alex is nothing like how he was pictured in the flyers, and then they start working in a storyboard. Ghostwriter shows to Alex and Gaby (Mayteana Morales) fragments of an unsent letter from one of the other competitors, showing friendship towards Alex and thus, making her not suspects anymore.
- Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed) rallies the team to let them know Rob (Todd Alexander) has seen Ghostwriter's writings and when asked why, he pushes the kids to know Rob better. Tina (Tram-Anh Tran) and Alex (David López) work on the video footage for his campaign while Gaby (Mayteana Morales) joins Jamal's karate class. Ghostwrites contacts Rob again, suggesting him to speak with Jamal, which ends up resolving the situation caused by the text fragment found once it becomes clear that it was just part of a story Rob was writing. When Ghostwriter shows another defamatory message, Alex runs throughout the school trying to find the flyers it could've come from and discovers that one of the competitors, backed up by Calvin Ferguson (Joey Shea), is rehearsing his speeches in school property, which is disallowed by election rules.
- Alex (David López) overheard a secret meeting of one of the competitors and rallies the team to try to put an end in the situation. Ghostwriter finds out more about the last defamatory message and this gives Alex an idea of where it could've come from, confirming that is indeed one of his pen pals the source of his intimate secrets. The team then comes up with a plan to discover who's the contact in Alex's school and Calvin's (Joey Shea) name arises as a cousin of Alex's friend but, when confronted, he just laughs being very sure nothing will happen to him, even if snitched out. The kids then decides to give him a taste of his own medicine and asks Rob (Todd Alexander) to help with the printing of a few flyers with shameful messages about Calvin, then Jamal (Sheldon Turnipseed) finishes with some funny drawings. Together with Jamal and Lenni (Blaze Berdahl) at Calvin's "HQ" Alex intimidates the creep, threatening to put the flyers all over the school. Cornered, Calvin gives up and agrees to confess to the Principal. After the elections, the sweet taste of superiority: As Calvin comes to require the kids give him all the flyers as fulfillment of their part of the deal, they hand over a box with a just a couple of them since the entire volume was falsely filled, as decoy to fool him.
- Rob (Todd Alexander) really wants to find "Double T." (David Patrick Kelly), even more now that he knows he has a daughter, but his shyness pushes him away from the help offered by the other kids. Rob asks his father (Dan Ziskie) for help with the military records of "Double T." but it didn't help much because Thomas cut off relations with the veterans administration for quite some time already, so he and Lisa (Kristy Graves) try a different approach, with a letter to Mr. Hush (John Griesemer), the timid and easily frightened resident of the shelter. Ghostwriter reads "Double T." writing a letter to his daughter and the kids ask if there is anything else written around him. The team pulls a bed sheet from Jamal's (Sheldon Turnipseed) bed with a handmade map of the New York City and, with the information they now have, they figure Thomas might be near the South Ferry Subway Station.