Max confronts a band of burglars stealing from the middle school.

Austin Davenpor's fabulous luck landed him on this earth only 11 short months after his brother, Derek, putting them in the same grade. Join Austin on his journey through the tumultuous waters of middle school as he navigates the swampy and undeodorized hallways and explores the depths of the cafeteria's seafood surprise.

How do we inspire students to love reading and discovery? In Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, classroom teacher, author, and speaker Pernille Ripp reveals the five keys to creating a passionate reading environment. You’ll learn how to... Use your own reading identity to create powerful reading experiences for all students Empower your students and their reading experience by focusing on your physical classroom environment Create and maintain an enticing, well-organized, easy-to-use classroom library; Build a learning community filled with choice and student ownership; and Guide students to further develop their own reading identity to cement them as life-long, invested readers. Throughout the book, Pernille opens up about her own trials and errors as a teacher and what she’s learned along the way. She also shares a wide variety of practical tools that you can use in your own classroom, including a reader profile sheet, conferring sheet, classroom library letter to parents, and much more. These tools are available in the book and as eResources to help you build your own classroom of passionate readers.

Get ready for prime time in Gopherville! The political scene at Cherry Avenue Middle School heats up when some of your favorite (and least favorite) Gophers throw their hats in the ring to become the next eighth-grade president. It's a classic battle of good vs. evil with a whole lot of mayhem thrown in for good measure. And great laughs, of course. When Austin's arch nemesis, Randy Warblemacher, makes a power play that threatens to rock the vote, Austin, Sophie, and the crew attempt to persevere through election fraud and dirty politics. What's more, a new force rises, led by the evil, aspiring-First Lady, Regan Storm. The mayhem her Pretty Posse causes is downright ugly. Get ready for bumbling candidates, Calvin Conklin leading the debates, and a whole lot of mud slinging on the campaign trail. The power struggle is real! Will a clever ruse by the conniving Randy crush Nerd Nation once and for all? Is there a puppet master pulling all the strings behind the scenes? Will Sophie's thirst for power push Austin away? Will the cafeteria's revolting cuisine lead to an actual revolt? Who will rise to rule Cherry Avenue Middle School? Find out in Election Misdirection... it's mayhem for the masses!

In this new novel from Greg Howard, an enterprising boy starts his own junior talent agency and signs a thirteen-year-old aspiring drag queen as his first client. Now in paperback. Twelve-year-old Mikey Pruitt is a budding entrepreneur. Inspired by his grandfather Pap Pruitt, who successfully ran all sorts of businesses, Mikey is still looking for his million-dollar idea. Unfortunately, most of his ideas--from a roadside general store to croquet lessons--haven't taken off. It isn't until kid drag queen Coco Caliente, Mistress of Madness and Mayhem (aka eighth grader Julian Vasquez) walks into his office (aka his family's storage/laundry room) looking for a talent agent that Mikey thinks he's finally found a business that will put him on the map, and the Anything Talent and Pizzazz Agency is born! Soon, Mikey has a whole roster of kid clients looking to hit it big or at least win the middle school talent show's hundred-dollar prize. As newly out Mikey prepares Julian for the gig of a lifetime, he realizes there's no rulebook for being gay--and if Julian can be openly gay at school, maybe Mikey can, too, and tell his crush, the dreamy Colton Sanford, how he feels. Full of laughs, sass, and hijinks, this hilarious, heartfelt story shows that with a little effort and a lot of love, anything is possible.

In Jason Platt's debut graphic novel, Ferris Bueller meets Calvin and Hobbes in this hilarious and embarrassing middle school caper that asks the important questions--like how long can one kid vamp before he embarrasses himself in front of his whole school? Newell is always getting into trouble--whether it's showing up tardy for most of the year, or mocking his teachers while authoritarian Mr. Todd is standing right behind him. When disaster strikes and Newell finds himself on track to summer school, he's given one last minute option to get out of it--participating in the upcoming Talent Show. The only problem is that he doesn't technically have a talent to show. Yikes. In this fun and imaginative full-color graphic novel, Jason Platt sends a fast-talking, daydreaming, middle school kid on a desperate quest to pull off a great show and save his summer. This title will be simultaneously available in hardcover.