Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunts and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

"Life in middle school is finally starting to seem bearable-until Rafe spots his grandmother standing on the free-meal line at the local soup kitchen. In order to help bring in more money, Rafe concocts a brilliant plan-a dog-walking business that soon turns into a huge money-making neighborhood empire"--

Sixth grader Abigail, assigned a different homeroom than her two best friends and made only the alternate on the pom-pom squad, learns a lot about popularity and true friendship when paired with unpopular Gabby for a year-long "Friendly Letter Assignment.".

While snooping through his sister's diary, Marty finds a partially torn-out page that suggests he may be a werewolf and he's determined to protect his classmates from himself.

In a story told from different viewpoints, five sixth-graders, facing various challenges and under pressure to do well on statewide assessment tests, agree to a plan for acing the tests.

"As his school's centennial is coming up, Big Nate is stuck showing the dorky new kid around"--

Sixth-grader Stuart Truly has confusing feelings about new student Becca, and it does not help that he, the son of a butcher, told her his family, like hers, is vegetarian.

Adrian Lazarus, who became a zombie just before starting middle school, and new friends Gia, Zander, and Talal navigate a mystery involving global warming, disappearing bees, and billionaire developers.

Becca Birnbaum, a sixth-grade nobody, must team with Selfie St. Clair, the most popular girl in school, to track down a missing shopping bag that holds the principal's intimate garments.

Derek Fallon gets the chance of a lifetime when he is asked to test software for new video games, but he soon discovers that his dream job isn't all it's cracked up to be.