Chris Anderson inherits The Coach House which belonged to his uncle who is presumed dead. When Chris and his friends go to check it out, they meet Otto and Theta, his uncle's computers, who warn the children of a conspiracy in Herbertville.
The children decide to start a newspaper so they can legitimately use the Coach House. Otto and Theta withhold information about Duneedon from the kids, which proves dangerous when the villain uses the teleport machine to kidnap Sam and Lynne.
Lynne and Sam find themselves in Trialviron and meet disembodied head Duneedon, who traps them in the problem pit, where they have to solve word problems in order to escape.
Samantha and Lynne escape the Problem Pit. Meanwhile the Queen of Hearts is accidentally teleported out of a novel and into the Coach House, so the kids have to figure out which book she came from.
As the kids work to put out the first edition of The Herbertville Chronicle, a shadowy figure breaks into the Coach House and steals their story about Duneedon.
Lynne conducts an interview with town counselor Ann Blake; Chris tests a blender that was sent to the paper for review; and Samantha finds an anomaly in the town history.
While Samantha goes to investigate Mayor Don Eden, Merlin the magician teleports into the Coach House and casts a magic spell to send Lynne and Chris to Trialvaron.
On Trialvaron, Lynne and Chris meet Crystal Couplet, who uses her rhyming talents to help the kids reach The Place of Change, where the first edition of the The Official History of Herbertville is hidden.
Duneedon finds Chris and Lynne in The Place of Change and he reveals his plot to alter the history of Herbertville. After they escape, the kids work feverishly to complete the second edition of their newspaper.
Lynne has to rely on herself to write a speech. Meanwhile, while searching for a first edition of The Official History of Herbertville, Chris and Samantha walk right into a trap.
Uncle Derek goes to the police with his story. When the kids get wind that the local newspaper is planning on breaking the story about Duneedon, they rush to get out a special edition of their own.