Sixth-grader Ally excels at covering the fact that she cannot read, but at her seventh school in as many years she is challenged to admit she needs help.

"In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2034, a comet is due to hit the Earth within the hour. Denise, who's sixteen years old and autistic, must try to find her missing sister and also help her neglectful, undependable mother safely aboard a spaceship"--

When a new principal threatens to close the school library, Jamie Grimm tries to save the day by teaching a comedy class for his fellow students.

Danny Owens is dedicating his seventh-grade football season to his recently-deceased father, an NFL legend, but the pressure to succeed is magnified by his inability to read.

After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus's mother takes him and his younger brother, who has Down syndrome, to Puerto Rico to visit relatives they do not remember or have never met, and while there Marcus starts searching for his father, who left their family ten years ago and is somewhere on the island.

Comedian Jamie Grimm, accompanied by Uncle Frank, New Aunt Flora, and friends, circles the globe as host of regional competitions, then competes, himself, in the Planet's Funniest Kid Worldwide contest.