Amaya, princess of House Amethyst in Gemworld, is something of a troublemaker. She and her brother have great fun together until a magical prank goes much too far and her parents ground her ... to Earth! They hope a whole week in the mundane world will teach her that magic is a privilege ... and maybe washing dishes by hand will help her realize the palace servants should be respected. Three years later, Amy has settled into middle school and ordinary...

The only thing Rosalind Ling Geraghty loves more than watching NASA launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When he dies unexpectedly, all Ro has left of him is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together. Benjamin Burns doesn't like science, but he can't get enough of Spacebound, a popular comic book series. When he finds a sketch that suggests that his dad created the comics, he's thrilled. Too bad his dad walked out...

"My name is Grace, not 'Kyle's little sister!' Having a good-looking, friendly, outgoing older brother sucks--especially when you're the total opposite, someone who likes staying home and playing video games. Your parents like him better (even if they deny it!), and everyone calls you 'Kyle's little sister' while looking disappointed that you're not more like him. I was really hoping I'd get to go to a different middle school, but no such luck. At...

"You've got to know where you stand to survive sixth grade, and Nate Wright's found the perfect spot: right next to Sherman, the class gerbil. Can Nate's furry friend bail him out of his latest homework jam with Mrs. Godfrey? Or will there be a paper trail leading straight to detention?"--Provided by publisher

"1998, Colombo. The Sri Lankan Civil War is raging, but everyday life must go on. At Kavi's school, her friends talk about the weekly Top 40, the Backstreet Boys, Shahrukh Khan, Leo & Kate... and who died--or didn't--in the latest bombing. But Kavi is afraid of something even scarier than war. She fears that if her friends discover her secret--that she is not who she is pretending to be--they'll stop talking to her. I want to be friends with these...

"Middle-schooler Ruby and her friend Scout join together to stop a real-estate mogul from tearing down their historied New York City apartment building, called Umbrella House. In a contest for a news network, Ruby and Scout use their creativity and video-editing skills to show the value of both their building and their East Village neighborhood. Once they discover the identity of the anonymous Midnight Muralist, Ruby convinces the famed East Village...

"The madcap adventures of sixth grader Nate Wright are front and center in this special collection, which include all the comics from classic titles Big Nate and Friends, and Big Nate Makes the Grade. Joined by his pals Francis and Teddy, Nate plays the top dog while making P.S. 38 his personal playground. Whether he's shattering the school record for detentions, serving Gina a slice of humble pie, or trash-talking his way through another chess tournament,...

Middle schooler Yuna, born in America to Korean parents, struggles with feeling too Korean to fit in with her American peers at school. Frustrated with her fractured life and desperate to fit in, Yuna makes a wish on paper stars to return to Korea so she might feel normal somewhere. When the unexpected death of her halmoni (grandmother) makes Yuna's wish come true, Yuna is wracked with guilt and feels more fragile than ever as she realizes she also...

"Korean American Pippa Park picks up right where she left off . . . trying to balance basketball, school, friends, working at the struggling family laundromat, and fitting in. Eliot, her math tutor--and the cutest boy at school--is finally paying attention to her. And Marvel--her childhood friend--is making her required volunteering much more interesting. But things with the Royals, her new friends and teammates who rule the school, still feel a bit...