Horrible Harry, the class clown of Room 2B, returns to the spotlight with the Purple People, mysterious beings that only he can see.

When his band votes him out due to his embarrasing musical antics, Dewey has to make the rent somehow. After intercepting a call for his substitute-teacher roomie Ned, Dewey finds himself in front of a class of elite elementary school students. Dewey decides to take on the music program and makes it his goal to teach them the gospel of rock and roll. His ulterior motive is to get them to compete against his former band for a cash prize.

Other students laugh when Rigoberto, an immigrant from Venezuela, introduces himself but later, he meets Angelina and discovers that he is not the only one who feels like an outsider.

A schoolgirl named Shizuku, who longs to discover her true talents, meets the mysterious Seiji, a boy who is determined to follow his dreams, and The Baron, a magical cat who helps her listen to the whispers in her heart.

When Mrs. Green announces that Friday is class picture day, Hubie spends the rest of the week worrying about how he will look and practicing poses.

"Hubie has the strangest science teacher ever! Mr. Hyde has the class do the weirdest experiments. This week, Hubie is going to create his own slime. So gooey! So disgusting! How will Hubie ever make a clean getaway from school?" -- Back cover.

"It's the start of the school year, and nothing feels right to Justin. He didn't get the teacher he wanted, he's not in the same class as his best friend, and his little sister, Elizabeth, is starting kindergarten at his school. Elizabeth doesn't seem nervous at all. Justin is very nervous about third grade. And to top it off, he's lost his favorite stuffed animal, but he can't tell anyone, because technically he's too old to still have stuffed animals....

Livvy and Gates intend to beat the competition at the Springdale Robots Meet this year, but their entry seems to have a mind of its own --

Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She is a smart girl, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah decides to participate in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from...

Amy Denison volunteers at Glory's Place, an after school program where she meets seven-year-old Maddie, a precocious young girl who has spent her childhood in foster care. Unbeknownst to Amy, Maddie is a mini-matchmaker, with her eye on just the right man for Amy at her school, Grandon Elementary. As Christmas nears and the town is blanketed in snow and beautiful decorations, Maddie and the staff at Glory's Place help Amy to see that romance can be...