For Merci Suarez, eighth grade means a new haircut, nighttime football games, and an out-of-town overnight field trip. At home, it means more chores and keeping an eye on Lolo as his health worsens. It's a year filled with more responsibility and independence, but also with opportunities to reinvent herself. Merci has always been fine with not being one of the popular kids like Avery Sanders, who will probably be the soccer captain and is always traveling...

"What's middle school without a crisis? Sixth-grader Nate Wright would love to find out, but the emergencies are piling up fast. A gang of eighth-graders steals Nate's favorite lunch spot. Alan Chen chooses a new name (hint: it begins with N) in a brazen attack on Nate's uniqueness. And when a post-hypnotic suggestion works a little TOO well, the lovable Chad becomes P.S. 38's unlikeliest bully. Is Nate any match for Bad Chad? Can he fly under the...