Riley O’Rourke is writing his report on President Teddy Roosevelt in preparation for the fourth-grade biography tea, but he has a far more important goal: to get a saxophone so he can take instrumental music. His mother can’t afford to rent him a s
Wilson Williams worries about passing his times-table testsWilson has a hard time with math, especially with Mrs. Porter’s timed multiplication tests. If only he were as quick as Laura Vicks, the smartest kid in third grade, or as quick as his brother,
Annika Riz loves math more than anything. She's trying to teach her dog, Prime, to count. She's determined to beat fellow math whiz Simon Ellis in a Sudoku contest at the public library. She even sleeps under number-patterned sheets. But Annika's best fri
Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother's lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise,
Kelsey Kline is the best reader in the third grade--well, maybe tied for best with know-it-all Simon Ellis. When the principal Mr. Boone announces a school-wide reading contest, complete with a pizza party for the winning class and a special certific
Oliver Olson's teacher is always saying that one person with a big idea can change the world. But how is Oliver supposed to change the world when his parents won't let him do anything on his own—not his class projects or even attending activities such a
Determined to shake off her reputation as a nerd, Lizzie Archer puts on a new face at the start of seventh grade. She exchanges her flowing lace dresses for jeans and tank tops, feigns dumb in math in a misguided attempt to impress a boy, abandons her bel
