Middle School English

Middle school can be one of the toughest times in a kid’s life—for them and for their parents and educators. It’s filled with transitions, upheaval, and brand-new experiences that can be overwhelming and intimidating. But licensed clinical professional counselor Phyllis Fagell has put together a practical, evidence-based, and compassionate guide for parents and educators to help their tweens through most challenging situations. Middle School Superpowers teaches middle schoolers how to activate the 12 superpowers they need to discover their strengths and navigate decisions and disappointment.

Rafe isn't exactly considered a winner in Hills Village Middle School, to say the least, but everything's about to change: He's won a school-wide art competition, and the fabulous prize is getting to jet-set off to Australia for a whirlwind adventure! But Rafe soon finds that living in the Land Down Under is harder than he could've ever imagined.

Rafe and Jimmy, two misunderstood "troublemakers", are finally up to something good. They're in charge of a huge celebration of books and reading - but when a small issue snowballs into a big problem that threatens to derail the whole event, they need to work fast to keep things on track! And the best part? Rafe and Jimmy are joined by the funniest storytellers they know, including Jamie Grimm from I Funny, Jacky Ha-Ha, the Kidd family of Treasure Hunters, and super-genius Max Einstein - everyone's favorite characters from James Patterson's best-selling series for kids!

Eleven-year-old Matt is struggling in school, and he has to set up his own business to save his failing math grade. But what is he even good at? The only thing he truly loves is his team of dogs, and so Matt's Sled Dog School is born. Teaching dogsledding should be easy, right? But people, just like dogs, can be unpredictable. And sometimes the bravest thing a person can do is admit they need help.

After a mostly-successful stint at Hills Valley Middle School, Rafe is excited to visit the incredible city of London with his class. Sightseeing around a foreign country sounds like a blast, until Rafe finds out his roommate is Miller the Killer, bully extraordinaire! Then he's forced to work on a class project side by side with his crush Jeanne Galletta and her too-perfect boyfriend, which might be even worse than rooming with Miller.

Listeners get a chance to participate in James Patterson's wildly successful Middle School series in this interactive book featuring more than 80 hilarious anecdotes from dueling siblings Rafe and Georgia Khatchadorian - plus dozens of fun-filled activities!

Toby is a beagle who doesn't seem to have a purpose. While all of his littermates are adopted right away, Toby is left behind because he's not as energetic as they are. But because he is so quiet, he is adopted by a girl named Mona and her mother, who works at a nursing home. As Toby comforts the residents of the home, he discovers that his purpose may be the most important of all!

When we last left our hero, Max Crumbly, he had crash-landed on top of a Mighty Meat Monster pizza after taking a late night tumble through the vents at South Ridge Middle School - and he was completely surrounded by three ruthless criminals! Will Max be shredded to bits like mozzarella cheese on the hard and crunchy pizza crust of doom?

In this hilarious fourth book in the Middle School and Other Disasters series that started with New York Times bestseller Worst Broommate Ever, witch-in-training Heidi Heckelbeck tries to keep magic hidden when Lucy Lancaster comes to visit. Featuring black-and-white illustrations and doodles throughout and sparkly foil on the cover!

Five running backs were selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Jamaal Charles was not among them. Despite piling up the fourth-most rushing yards at the University of Texas in just three seasons, he waited for eight other running backs to get selected ahead of him. The Middle School Rules of Jamaal Charles features the stories and lessons of Jamaal’s childhood, defined by people overlooking him.

Lily is the smallest puppy in her litter and the only girl. Her brothers are bigger and stronger and like to push her around. When Lily meets a girl named Maggie Rose at the animal shelter, Lily discovers things are not so bad. Lily's size means that she can help other animals who are in trouble. It's Lily to the rescue!

Seventh-grader Martin McLean has always been surrounded by people who can express themselves. His mother is an artist, his colorful Tio Billy works in theater, and his best friends Carmen and Pickle are outgoing and don't care what other people think. But Martin can only find the right words when he's answering a problem at a Mathletes competition - until his tio introduces him to the world of drag.

Things have quieted down for lovable troublemaker Rafe Khatchadorian, and after all the mishaps and adventures he's been through, he's feeling a little restless. So when he's invited to attend an all-expenses-paid art field trip in California, Rafe jumps at the opportunity. But things go sideways, as they always do for Rafe, when he arrives and realizes his trip isn't the Hollywood vacation he thought it would be. Instead, he'll be participating in a "Cultural Campout" in the desert.

Olivia Grace Clarisse Harrison has always known she was different. Brought up by her aunt's family in New Jersey, book-and-music-loving Olivia feels out of place in their life of high fashion and fancy cars. But she never could have imagined how out of place she really was until Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia, pops into her school and announces that Olivia is her long-lost sister.

It's not easy being Rafe Khatchadorian's sister. He's got quite a reputation around school, and Georgia's got it hard enough as is! Georgia can't help but throw all her energy into the one thing that makes her happy: her kick-butt, all-girl rock band, We Stink! When Georgia's favorite rock band, Lulu and the Handbags, advertises a major music competition where the winner gets to jam with Lulu herself, Georgia will pull all the stops to make sure We Stink wins - even if it means asking her annoying older brother, Rafe, for help!

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she's unstoppable. She's the fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she's asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she's got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she's somebody special - and Annabelle thinks she'll finally stand out in a good way.

After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone. Wrong! It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum.

Things heat up at Hills Village Middle School when Rafe gets an invitation from Dr. Daria Deerwin to join a research study on polar bears. How many times in life do you get a chance to come face‑to‑face with a real polar bear in the wild? Rafe is ready to find out! Alaska is pinkie‑freezing, hair‑freezing, snot‑freezing cold, but Rafe might be headed for a meltdown. He’s spending every waking moment with Penelope, who he definitely has a crush on, and a polar bear Dr. Deerwin is tracking goes missing...with poachers on the tundra.

Heidi is making new friends at Broomsfield Academy—in particular, a popular girl named Isabelle. But it turns out Isabelle has a big secret that Heidi discovers by accident! Heidi promises to keep the secret, but as more time goes by, it becomes more and more difficult…especially with nosy Melanie Maplethorpe snooping around. This secret is huge. Will Heidi be able to keep her promise?

Middle school is its own important, distinct territory, and yet it's either written off as an uncomfortable rite of passage or lumped in with other developmental phases. Based on her many years working in schools, professional counselor Phyllis Fagell sees these years instead as a critical stage that parents can't afford to ignore (and though "middle school" includes different grades in various regions, Fagell maintains that the ages make more of a difference than the setting).