Jamie is crushing on Hudson. Someone too-gross-to-be- named is crushing on Jamie. And Hudson is crushing on ... Princess Turd of Turdsylvania (a.k.a. The Prettiest Girl in the World). Middle school may be grim, but it's no fairy tale. And crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. Jamie Kelly writes in her diary about her crush on Mr. Prince, the new student teacher at Mackerel Middle School, and she feels certain that he is the secret admirer who is sending...

Happy-go-lucky Kelsey hasn't been so happy-go-lucky lately. She's starting to feel pretty jealous of her cousin Lindsay and all the extra time Lindsay is spending with her aunt, who just happens to be Kelsey's mom! But Kelsey soon discovers the love she and her family have for one another is like a box of donuts - there's always enough to share!--

Sixth grade can be a tension convention for Nate Wright.  His baseball team's just been given the lamest name in Little League history; he's on the verge of becoming know-it-all Gina's personal servant for a day; and Spitsy, the closest thing he has to a dog of his own, is in love with a CAT.  Yup, Nate's up to his ears in stress.  Luckily, the perfect remedy is close at hand:  an empty plastic soda bottle.  All Nate has to do is drum it gently...

"Dating an older lady has its challenges, and Nate isn't sure he's cut out for the experience, especially since his friends in his own grade seem to be having a lot of fun without him. Will Nate be able to find a balance between the pressures of romance and the pleasures of spending time with his friends? The only thing certain for Nate is that there will be lots of laughter, mischief, and detention"

Willy and his friends have just started 5th grade and they want to be part of the 'in' crowd, the jocks. The fall football season leaves Willy a benchwarmer, or scrub, but he goes out for wrestling in the winter and things begin to change.

"The French have a name for the uniquely hellish years between elementary school and high school: "l'âge ingrat" or "The Ugly Age." Characterized by a perfect storm of developmental changes-physical, psychological, and social-the middle-school years are a time of great distress for parents and children alike, marked by hurt, isolation, exclusion, competition, anxiety, and often outright cruelty. Some of this is inevitable; there are intrinsic challenges...

"When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a...

"Big Nate is in a class by himself! An irrepressible sixth grader with plenty of confidence. Nate's blazing a trail through middle school that his teachers and classmates won't soon forget. And even if that trail usually leads straight to detention...well, there's no denying that Nate gets there in style. Whether he's taking one of Mrs. Godfrey's notorious pop quizzes, trading barbs with grade-grubbing Gina, or starting the world's greatest garage...

"In this powerful collection of short stories, children around the world turn eleven and take a step into their futures. Each one is changed in ways both big and small. Annoyed at having to walk his sister's dog on his birthday, Connor heads into an undeveloped subdivision, where he comes across chilling evidence of a stranger's unhappiness. A girl sneaks away from her class camping trip to a local conservation area and experiences, for the first...

"Will loves playing center midfield on his middle school soccer team. This year, though, Will hasn't felt like himself: his stomach has been bothering him, and he has no energy at all. When his new doctor diagnoses him with Crohn's disease, Will hopes that means he'll start feeling better soon and he can get back to playing with his team before the season ends. But Will's new medicines come with all kinds of side effects, and his body needs to heal...