April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a "buddy bench monitor" for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges... Joey's "bird's eye" drawings...

Dubbing his new triplet sisters "the Trips," nine-year-old Jacob studies them for a science project by watching them grow and realizes they aren't just "the Trips" anymore, but individuals he has come to love.

There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new school--you can't fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors. On Day One, twelve-year-old Malú (María Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School's queen bee, violates the school's dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better...

"A love bird who doesn't like kisses? Rissy's friends and family wonder if she's sick, confused, or rude. But kisses make Rissy uncomfortable. Can she show everyone there's not one right way to share affection?"--

Thirteen-year-old Meg envys her sister's beauty and popularity. Her feelings don't make it any easier for her to cope with Molly's strange illness and eventual death.

A lonely boy feels like a stranger on his own planet until the day his radio bursts to life with the rhythm of stardust energy. Includes notes and facts about David Bowie's life.

"First days aren't easy for a girl with a name like Ashanti. It feels like no one can pronounce it correctly! But with some encouragement from her mom, Ashanti spells her name and learns just how special it is"--Provided by publisher

A punctuation mark feels bad that he doesn't fit in with the others until a friend reveals the possibilities that exist when differences are accepted.

Frankenstein stands out at the Valentine's Day Bash for being less monstrous than the other guests, but to one smelly, rude creature that makes him the perfect valentine.

When Franny Stein, self-styled mad scientist, creates a robot to show her school friends the joys of science, she ends up learning something from them instead. There's nothing better in the world than being a mad scientist-at least according to Franny. And she's absolutely convinced that, if given the opportunity to be one, every kid in her class would feel the same way. So she's making it her mission to help her classmates discover their own inner...