Чай всегда в четыре

Konigsburg started the story of Ethan Potter's school bus ride on the first day of sixth grade. "A strangely dressed young man", Julian sat next to him and explained that father was opening a "bed-and-breakfast" B&B. She took a break, walking along the beach, and recalled three other short stories in her files: one about a boy Noah who must write a "bread-and-butter" B&B letter to his grandparents; one about a dog Ginger who plays the dog Sandy in "Annie"; one about an Academic Bowl team. She realized that the stories would complement each other in a whole "more than the sum of the parts. I knew that kids would love meeting one character and then two and three and four ... and they would think that fitting all the stories together was part of the adventure."

Eva Marie Olinski returned after her accident left her paraplegic. She chooses four of her sixth-grade students (Ethan, Noah, Nadia, and Julian), who form a group they call "The Souls," to represent her class in the academic bowl competition. They defeat the other sixth-grade teams, then the seventh- and eighth-grade champions at Epiphany, and so on until they become New York state middle school champions. The children help the teacher live a happier life after her win. A child named Ham makes fun and makes life harder for her. Later the Souls stick out their arms and legs when Mrs. Olinski Stands up for herself when Ham and his follower Jared Lord harass the class. They stick out their limbs to show that she can stand up for herself.
Between chapters that feature the progress of the competition, each of the four students narrates one chapter related both to the development of The Souls and to a question in the state championship final. Noah Gershom recounts learning calligraphy and being best man for his grandfather's friend at Century Village in Florida. Nadia Diamondstein describes working to conserve sea turtles and meeting Ethan, also at Century Village. Ethan Potter tells of meeting Julian, a new boy in town, and attending his tea parties, where the four Souls became friends. Julian Singh explains being new at school and tells of handling a chance for revenge against one of the bullies — remarkably grounded in the part played by Nadia's dog in the school musical "Annie"

В 1997 году Э. Л. Конигсбург получила за эту книгу вторую (!) Медаль Джона Ньюбери — премию за выдающийся вклад в литературу для детей. Первый раз эта награда была вручена ей в 1968 году за книгу «Из архива миссис Базиль Э. Франквайлер, самого запутанного в мире».