With insight and a light touch, best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt tells two poignant, linked stories: that of a grieving girl and a boy trying to escape his violent past. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students...

"Everyone on the Bader Ginsburg Middle School Badgers is looking forward to the playoffs and a chance to win back the Supreme Bowl trophy from the Wellstone Middle School Warriors--but somebody has stolen the trophy, and evidence points to one of the Badgers, so teammates Kenny Hu and Romeo Russell set out to clear their friend and discover the truth"--Title verso page.

Fleischman Middle School has won the regional Math-Tastic competition the last two years, but just before this year's contest, the trophies are stolen--the four friends of Snoops, Inc. have a suspect (or two), but when they set out to solve the mystery their investigation takes an unexpected turn.

"In this high-interest accessible novel for middle-grade readers, a cosplaying thief at an anime expo has stolen a valuable print belonging to the celebrity that shy thirteen-year-old Bree Wong has come to meet. She hopes that she'll get a face-to-face with her idol if she can catch the culprit and recover the stolen print"--Provided by publisher.

The "Jewels" of the Martha Washington Middle School team are focused on the upcoming quiz bowl in New York City but when they discover that the Atkinson Preparatory School Rivals may be planning a diamond heist, they set out to foil the theft.

The Ghost Grabbers (an internet program, and Jaden's heroes) are filming a seance at the Pendleton Public Library, where the recently discovered unpublished manuscripts of the late horror author and library founder Alistair Pendleton are on display--so when the lights go out, and the manuscripts disappear, Jaden (who thinks a ghost took them), his twin sister Hayden, and the other members of Snoops Inc. swing into action to solve the mystery.