Greg records his sixth-grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

"Greg Heffley's on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg's life destined to be just another hard-luck story?"--

The Dunwiddle Magic School (fifth to eighth grade) is intended for children whose magic is "upside-down" like Dory (who turns into a combination of a kitten and dragon) and Pepper (whose uncontrollable "fiercing" terrifies everyone around her)--so the Show Off, where fifth grade students are supposed to showcase their skills, does not really seem like a good idea.

Middle-schooler Greg Heffley is the prime suspect when it is discovered that school property has been damaged, but when a surprise blizzard hits and school is closed, Greg is stuck indoors with his family, unable to prove his innocence.

Due to an administrative mix-up, troublemaker Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students, after pulling a major prank at middle school.

When twelve-year-old Ruby Moon Hayes and her mother move to tiny Fortin, Vermont, Ruby is surprised to make friends at school and in the neighborhood, where a reclusive woman hides a huge secret.

Maverick Falconer wishes that he could deal with school bullies and his mother's drinking problem and abusive boyfriends, but he starts to realize that others kids in his class have problems too and things might get better if they just survive sixth grade.

Told in alternating voices, the teacher and students in room 117 find their lives changed over the course of a school year.

While playing in the championship softball game, star pitcher KT Sutton blacks out and awakes to a changed world where the roles of academics and sports at her middle school have flipped, making talented athletes, such as KT, outcasts and brainy nerds popular.