Nervous about middle school because her family does not get her and her friends know exactly what they want to do, Abbie Wu searches for her own passion before discovering a knack for leadership when injustices in the cafeteria come to light.

Twelve-year-old Abby must deal with her feelings about her father's cancer and its aftermath while simultaneously navigating the difficult problems of growing up.

Eleven-year-old Liv fights to change the middle school dress code requiring girls to wear a skirt and, along the way, finds the courage to tell his moms he is meant to be a boy.

The Dunwiddle Magic School (fifth to eighth grade) is intended for children whose magic is "upside-down" like Dory (who turns into a combination of a kitten and dragon) and Pepper (whose uncontrollable "fiercing" terrifies everyone around her)--so the Show Off, where fifth grade students are supposed to showcase their skills, does not really seem like a good idea.

Sixth grader Abigail, assigned a different homeroom than her two best friends and made only the alternate on the pom-pom squad, learns a lot about popularity and true friendship when paired with unpopular Gabby for a year-long "Friendly Letter Assignment."

"Seventh-grader Kendall can see dead people. Not only can she see them, she can speak to them. . . and they can speak to her. They want Kendall to be a psychic sleuth and figure out what unresolved issues are keeping them from moving on"--

When Theo's photography project is vandalized, the five students nearby all claim it was not them, so Theo's favorite teacher suggests they all spend vacation week together and get to the truth.

Wheaton, Kansas seventh-grader Tucker MacBean loves comic books, so when his favorite comic has a contest to create a sidekick, he is hopeful that he can win, thereby fixing his struggling family.

Griffin Bing is in big trouble when a Super Bowl ring disappears from his middle school's display case, replaced by Griffin's retainer, and the more he and his friends investigate, the worse his situation becomes.

After being diagnosed with a rare eye cancer, twelve-year-old Ross discovers how music, art, and true friends can help him survive both treatment and middle school.