Chance, sitting alone one day and feeling quite sorry for himself, meets Professor Skye. The professor takes the ten-year-old under his wing. Chance becomes the professor's apprentice, helping him solve the moral issues so common to children and teens of today. Each story also helps Chance navigate his own course through the complications surrounding growing up. The overall moral messages are sometimes a bit heavy-handed but are palatable enough within the context of the stories themselves.

Book One introduces us to Chance, his immediate family and the workings of his apprenticeship with Professor Skye. Books Two through Six each have a riveting subplot meticulously woven through the moral journeys. The only downside was that I found myself so drawn to the subplots, I often skimmed (or skipped) the moral adventures to find out what was happening to the characters in the secondary story. I'm not sure 9 to 12 year olds would be as persistent as I was in following the stories through to the end of each book. C.E. Pickhardt has a real talent for drawing us in to his subplots. I'd love to see a sequel that focuses more on this exciting aspect of his writing.