Tired of continually having his feelings hurt by popular students and bullies, fifth-grader Nathan agrees to try an experimental formula, Hurt-Be-Gone, and becomes a half-dead zombie, a condition which, he soon discovers, has some real advantages.

A mold problem disrupts things at Nathan's school and his class is forced to share a space with first and eighth graders including Rodney the bully's older brother. Meanwhile, Nathan notices that a putrid smell is following him around and tries to discover its source.

When fifth-grader Nathan Abercrombie, a half-dead zombie whose body cannot heal itself, is approached by messengers from the Bureau of Useful Misadventures (B.U.M.) and offered the chance for a cure if he will become a spy, he doesn't realize that B.U.M. is not exactly trustworthy.

Following a difficult freshman year, Scott Hudson is hoping that sophomore year will be easier, but after a disaster of a first week he finds himself faced with new challenges--including a particularly demanding English teacher, a school board member whose budget cutting is covering up a crime, and the discovery that his friendship with Lee, the Goth girl he met last year, is turning into something else entirely.

Science teacher Ms. Clevis, one of the most popular teachers at Washington Irving Elementary School, splits into mean substitute Ms. Hyde and sweet sixth-grader Jackie after accidentally putting some chemicals into her breakfast smoothie.