After being homeschooled her whole life, Heidi Heckelbeck enters a real school in second grade, where she encounters a mean girl named Melanie who makes her feel like an alien.

Meet Judy Moody, the queen of moods! Bad moods, good moods, even back-to-school moods - Judy Moody has them all. When her teacher assigns the class the task of creating me collages, it puts Judy in a cut-and-paste mood!

"It was the first day of school. But even the kindergartners of room 2B could tell something was seriously wrong...Where was the teacher? And who left this sandwich on the desk? The only clue, written neatly on the chalkboard, was the name: Mr. S"--

It is the first day of second grade and already Buddy is disappointed because his class has a new teacher, not the one he wanted, and there is a new student, Bea, who is boisterous and much too pushy for the reserved Buddy--and who insists that they are friends.

Emily Beekman is so nervous about starting school that she makes her mother promise to stay with her forever, but after Emily makes friends and settles in, she and her teacher must convince Mrs. Beekman to break her promise and stay home.