Can Nate Wright get any cooler? Not according to Nate himself. He's already P.S. 38's rockin'est drummer, finest poet (check out his haiku about brazil nuts), and deepest thinker—in his own mind. But does Nate have what it takes to hang with Marcus, leader of the school's most notorious posse? Or will he decide that being cool isn't all it's cracked up to be?

Aspiring cartoonist Nate Wright is eleven years old, four-and-a-half feet tall, and the all-time record holder for detentions in school history. He's a self-described genius and sixth-grade Renaissance Man who lives with his dad and older sister and enjoys pestering his family and teachers with his sarcasm.

Best friends Phoebe Howell and Marigold Heavenly Nostrils march to their own beat, but life isn't all rainbows and unicorns. With so many problems in the world and drama at school, Phoebe wonders why unicorns aren't in charge instead of humans. With Marigold, each day is full of magic, from introducing Phoebe to unicorn music to crashing a goblin popularity contest, and even tracking down long-lost family members like Infernus, the Unicorn of Death...

Olivia Vivian Sullivan, now going by Viv to differentiate herself from all the other Olivias in her grade, is horrified when her mother sends her to school on picture day wearing a hand-knit floral cardigan with her hair in the same old boring braid. A follower of cutting-edge internet influencer Quinn Sparks, who's Black and androgynous, Viv, unlike best friends Milo (a brown-skinned boy) and Al (a redheaded White girl), longs to attract attention....

When Mia asks the girls in the club to be junior bridesmaids in her mother's wedding, everyone is superexcited about the idea...especially when they find the perfect dress for the occasion! And with her mom now out of a job (she's been put on furlough at the library) there's not a lot of room at the Taylor's house for extras. But not wanting to disappoint her friends, Emma decides to take on a few more jobs and chores around the house to help cover...

Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don't get noticed by the mean kids. Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar interests and join them. On her first day at her new school, Penelope -- Peppi -- Torres reminds herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in the hall, Jaime Thompson, she's already broken the first rule, and the mean kids start calling her the "nerder girlfriend." How does she handle this...