Fifth period is hands down the best time of day in Connor U. Eubanks Middle School, because that's when Mr. Lewis teaches Jazz Lab. So his students are devastated when their beloved teacher quits abruptly. Once they make a connection between budget cuts and Mr. Lewis's disappearance, they hatch a plan: stop the cuts, save their class. Soon, they become an unlikely band of crusaders, and their quest quickly snowballs into something much bigger--a movement...

Eleven-year-old Rick Ramsey has generally gone along with everybody, just not making waves, even though he is increasingly uncomfortable with his father's jokes about girls, and his best friend's explicit talk about sex; but now in middle school he discovers the Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities can express themselves--and maybe among them he can find new friends and discover his own identity, which may just be to opt...

Twelve-year-old Maxine Chen dreams of being a figure skating champion, but a remarkably talented new girl at the arena and a racist classmate at school test her resolve.

Babymouse's whiskers are in a twist! Literally. She tries out a new style--the twist--and now everyone wants to know her whisker secrets. When she posts a tutorial online, it immediately goes viral. Babymouse is officially a whisker influencer!

When thirteen-year-old David Greenberg's best friend makes the start of middle school even worse than he feared it could be, David becomes friends with Sophie, who shares his love of television shows and posts one of their skits on YouTube, making them wildly popular--online, at least.

When Finistere's stern acting principal, Ms. Vlad, invites Mr. Dragon to be her vice-principle, the students immediately adore him, but unbeknownst to them, he is nefariously planning to take over the world, and it is up to Javi to stop him before it is too late.

McQuarrie Middle School's students miss Origami Yoda when Dwight leaves for Tippett Academy, but he sends Sara a paper Fortune Wookiee that seems to give advice just as good as Yoda's--even if, in the hands of girls, it seems preoccupied with romance.

"Indigo, an eighth-grade investigative reporter, is torn between fighting a racist school policy and keeping her friends--until she discovers a series of letters written by Black journalist and activist Ida B. Wells"

Twelve-year-old Jake McQuade is the smartest kid in the universe, but if he wants to keep his title he will have to figure out a way to defeat the villain who steals his ingestible knowledge capsules.

It's Nikki's birthday, and it is up to her whether it is a blast or a bust.