While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more. Between the chapters are short dialogues between the author and main character about the writing of the book.

Four diverse seventh and eighth graders at southern California's San Paulo Junior High tell, from their unique perspectives, of a tumultuous year of changing friendships and romantic interests as they are learning to be themselves.

Clementine faces changes at the end of her third grade year and anticipates the birth of her family's new baby.

Kaitlin has given up a lot--even attending school--to pursue her dream of being a champion figure skater, but after she throws a tantrum at a major competition, she is dropped by her coach and prestigious skating club and can only get a spot in the much-ridiculed Fallton Club.

Every school day seems to bring more trouble to eleven-year-old Derek, whose former best friend bullies him, while at home he deals with the long absence of his father, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, and his mother's sudden moodiness.

Rollo the troll is tired of chores, but after spending time on the tundra with various animal families, from owls to moose, he realizes that he wants to be home for Christmas even if that means behaving himself.

"Mama Nut says it's bedtime, but Hazel Nut and Wally Nut just aren't quite ready to stop the fun and go to bed"--

High school student "Meg" has changed identities so often that she hardly knows who she is anymore, and her family is falling apart, but she knows that two of the rules of witness protection are be forgettable and do not make friends--but in her new home in Louisiana a boy named Ethan is making that difficult.

A twelve-year-old girl keeps a journal of her family's and friends' difficult experiences in the Texas panhandle, part of the "Dust Bowl," during the Great Depression. Includes a historical note about life in America in 1935.

When a scandal surrounding her father upsets all her carefully laid plans for her future, Andie must learn to accept a new relationship with her father and to embrace a little chaos in her life.