Nicholas and the Gang contains 16 stories about Nicholas, the French schoolboy, and his friends, many of whom are familiar from the other books in the series: there's Alec, who's always eating; Cuthbert, who's always top of the class; Matthew, who's always bottom of the class; and Mary Jane, the little girl with blonde pigtails who lives next door. As usual, the children get into all kinds of trouble, even though they have the very best intentions. In this book, they try to make friends with the owner of a new bookshop near their school, take part in a chaotic radio interview, and play an unusually messy game of chess.