When Caitlyn Breen begins her new life at a rural school - where the students take care of real live goats and study long-dead philosophers, and where there are only ten other students in the entire seventh grade - it seems like nobody can stop talking about some kid named Paulie Fink. Depending on whom you ask, Paulie was either a class clown, a troublemaker, a hapless klutz, or an evil genius. One thing's for sure, though: the kid was totally legendary....

Mattie, a shy fifth-grader, wants to hide out at her new school by acting as apprentice to her Uncle Potluck, the custodian, but her plan falls apart when she summons the courage to speak about what matters most and finds a true friend.

On her mother's birthday, Nancy gives her a total beauty makeover in the yard outside, which she has converted into a fancy salon.

Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had.

"Waylon, a boy with the mind of a scientific genius and the vulnerable heart of an eight year old, is trying to understand his older sister and deal with changes among the kids at school"--

Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, sixteen-year-old high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water.

Feeling awkward and ugly is only one reason sixteen-year-old Kevin is uncomfortable with the publicity surrounding his act of accidental heroism, but when a reporter photographs him apparently being unpatriotic, he steps into the limelight to encourage people to think about what the symbols of freedom really mean.

Nancy is determined to make the cover of her very first book report as fancy as she can, but she spends so much time on it that she has no time to write about the book.

Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy who wants to become a writer, relates what his life is like as he tries to make sense of his world.

Dani, who is staying with her grandparents, decides to take the trip on her own to see Ella for her birthday.