

Brandon runs away, and while Punky and the gang spend six hours searching for Brandon, Joey Deaton, a kid Punky's age, takes Brandon in, and hopes Brandon can move to California with him and his parents.
After learning that Punky did not do her book report, Henry cancels Punky's plans to see her favorite singing group DeBarge in concert, a move that Punky vows to never forgive Henry for -- until Henry gets DeBarge to come to the apartment and tell Punky how important reading is.
Punky decides to write a gossip column in the school newspaper, and she soon finds herself in hot water with her teacher, her schoolmates, and Henry when the gossip column does nothing but cause problems, especially when Punky's column tells her teacher, Mrs. Winston, which class put a frog in Mrs. Winston's briefcase. Mrs. Winston thought it was her biology class, but it was her history class.