Hoping to become a stand-up comedian despite being a wheelchair-bound middle school student, Jamie Grimm endures bullying from his mean-spirited cousin and hopes he will be fairly judged when he enters a local comedy contest.

From Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile and Sisters! Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon Over Mississippi, she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about...

When school is closed because of a huge snowstorm, Jenny is stuck hanging out with her former friend Addie all day. Will Addie ruin the school ski trip for Jenny, too?

"Will loves playing center midfield on his middle school soccer team. This year, though, Will hasn't felt like himself: his stomach has been bothering him, and he has no energy at all. When his new doctor diagnoses him with Crohn's disease, Will hopes that means he'll start feeling better soon and he can get back to playing with his team before the season ends. But Will's new medicines come with all kinds of side effects, and his body needs to heal...

Piper is excited to help her mom plan a big party for another girl her age. After all, who doesn t love a good party? But when Piper and her mom arrive, they are in for an unpleasant surprise: A spoiled little girl, a huge mansion, and a list of impossible demands from the birthday girl that includes a real-life princess and grape jelly beans. How will they ever pull off the show-stopping party that Emmy is demanding? It seems like no matter what...

Jamie is upset because she is now automatic friends with her old enemy Angeline, and so she tries to find something that she and her real friend, Isabella, can do together for the school talent show without Angeline.

Meet the Garbage Pail Kids-Adam Bomb, Babbling Brooke, Brainy Janey, Cranky Frankie, Handy Sandy, Junkfood John, Luke Puke, Nervous Rex, Rob Slob, and Wacky Jackie. You may think they're gross and weird and slobby and strange, but they're not bad kids-they just don't know any better. Even though they all live together in one big tumbledown house and have as much fun as they can while trying to survive Smellville Middle School, they are pretty "normal"...

"The French have a name for the uniquely hellish years between elementary school and high school: "l'âge ingrat" or "The Ugly Age." Characterized by a perfect storm of developmental changes-physical, psychological, and social-the middle-school years are a time of great distress for parents and children alike, marked by hurt, isolation, exclusion, competition, anxiety, and often outright cruelty. Some of this is inevitable; there are intrinsic challenges...