For Merci Sur̀ez, eighth grade means a new haircut, nighttime football games, and an out-of-town overnight field trip. At home, it means more chores and keeping an eye on Lolo as his health worsens. It's a year filled with more responsibility and independence, but also with opportunities to reinvent herself. Merci has always been fine with not being one of the popular kids like Avery Sanders, who will probably be the soccer captain and is always...

"At the start of seventh grade, Kyra believes her alcoholic mother, who has been sober for five years, has relapsed and with no one to count on, not even her best friend, she starts to question whether being just enough is not enough at all"--

"Ben Ripley and his friends are training in Alaska when Cyrus Hale is kidnapped by his old Russian nemesis. Ben, Erica, and the others mount a rescue mission, but events quickly spiral out of control in a plot involving the secret history of US-Russian relations, a young KGB agent with skills to rival Erica's--and lots and lots of bears" --

"After seventh graders Benji and Felix "borrow" $20 from a lost wallet, the billionaire owner challenges them to spend over $5 million dollars in thirty days in order to learn life lessons about money"-- Felix Rannells and Benji Porter were never supposed to be field-trip partners. Felix is a rule follower. Benji is a rule bender. They're not friends. And they don't have anything to talk about. Until...They find a wallet. A wallet that belongs to...

Keegan knows there's something off about Happy Town. The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect - -with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town's ultra-modern middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs. But when the two become obsessed with working...

Chase does not remember falling off the roof, in fact he does not remember anything about himself, and when he gets back to middle school he begins to learn who he was through the reactions of the other kids--trouble is, he really is not sure he likes the Chase that is being revealed, but can he take the opportunity amnesia has provided and restart his life?

Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie, but when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.

The kids in these humorous short stories each have a minor superpower they're learning to live with. One can shape-shift, but only part of her body, and only on Mondays. Another can always tell whether an avocado is perfectly ripe. One can even hear the thoughts of the animals in the pet store! But what these stories are really about is their young protagonists owning a power that contributes to their individuality, that allows them to find their...

"Superspy middle schooler Ben Ripley races against time and across state lines - traveling by car, train, boat and plane - to track Murray Hill down before Ben's cyber enemies can find him"--Provided by publisher.

Twelve-year-old Al, short for Alison, navigates an overprotective mother, growing apart from her best friend, and her first girl crush, all while her recent Crohn's diagnosis puts a knot in her stomach.