Middle-schooler Greg Heffley nimbly sidesteps his father's attempts to change Greg's wimpy ways until his father threatens to send him to military school.

"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?"--Provided by publisher.

Supremely confident middle school student Nate Wright manages to make getting detention from every one of his teachers in the same day seem like an achievement.

Nikki's diary describes a frightful Halloween, on which she helps with her sister's ballet class party at the same time she is Brandon's date for their middle school Halloween dance, where she has promised to spend the evening with her two best friends.

A bump on the head suffered during gym class causes middle school drama queen Nikki Maxwell to have a crazy dream where all of her acquaintances assume the roles of familiar fairy tale characters.

"Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing? Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's...

In her diary, middle school student Jamie Kelly describes her life at home and at school, including her attempts to triumph over her nemesis, the beautiful and popular Angeline.

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

Locked in the science closet after hours by the cool girls who have rejected her, Riley escapes to discover that all the school doors are locked, the phones are dead, and the lights aren't working, and as she roams through the building seeking a way out, she starts to suspect that she isn't alone.

Thirteen-year-old Claudia offers advice about surviving the challenges of middle school. Includes a glossary, discussion questions, a writing activity, tips from real teens, and sources of further reading.