The kids feel happy in the affectionate object's presence even Freddie is cheered by it despite his forthcoming punishment. Try as the Professor might to get it back, the moonball outwits him he can't even produce evidence that the children have it, though they pass the moonball among themselves regularly. The other kids find a way to retake their moonball from the Professor, and the furry ball almost seems to aid their efforts. This time the courts sentence him to a school for problem youth. Freddie, no stranger to run-ins with the law, breaks into the Professor's home to take back the moonball, a tactic that goes about as badly as possible. William, Vicky, and their friends grow distrustful as the Professor delays checking on the moonball yet refuses to return it.

Confident in his father's scientific knowledge, the Pro grabs the 'moonball' to show him, which the others reluctantly agree to allow. William Brown, Vicky Foster, the Professor's son (who goes by the nickname 'the Pro'), Freddie the Nipper, and their friends are intrigued, but have no idea what the furry ball is. After the skies calm, the local kids discover a furry, warm ball the size of a grapefruit, with no mouth, eyes, or other characteristics of an animal, yet seemingly alive. The storm is a peculiar one, ferociously loud with wild lightning and rain.

What mysteries does outer space contain? Most are too far away to investigate or beyond our capacity to comprehend, but one tiny piece of the enigma visits Earth in The Moonball, changing the lives of a group of neighborhood kids.

The Moonball by Ursula Moray Williams