Rachel Vail

"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....

Katie Honors is a really nice kid. But there’s one little secret that sometimes makes her feel not-so-nice deep inside: her little brother, Chuck. Katie loves her brother and works hard to be the perfect big sister but it can be hard. Chuck can sometimes be just so icky and messy. Sometimes it makes Katie secretly wish she had a trampoline or a treehouse or a giraffe instead of a brother. When all these emotions bubble up to the surface, Katie can...

"Katie Honors is a really brave kid. She can go to bed with just one small night light. She can hold her tears in when it's time to say goodbye to her mom at school. But sometimes Katie isn't ready to say goodbye and doesn't feel brave at all. When this happens, she Kaplooms! She refuses to let go of her mom, and everything is flurried as she begins to cry. Her emotions feel frightening. It's not the Katie Honors she wants to be. But her mother assures...

As Phoebe and her clique of privileged girlfriends get ready to graduate from eighth grade, a financial scandal threatens her family's security--as well as Phoebe's social status--but ultimately it teaches her the real meaning of friendship.

When other girls in her school have cat ears on their headbands, Elizabeth decides she must have one too

Ninth-grader Allison has always been the least attractive among her sisters, but when she allows the devil to possess her cell phone in exchange for appearing to be gorgeous, she must confront the power and deceptiveness of appearances.

There are unexpected consequences when thirteen-year-old Gracie sends texts pretending to be her bashful best friend, Sienna, and their friend Emmett starts texting back pretending to be shy A.J.

Eighth-grader Niki's best friend, Ava, dumps her just as life at home is becoming more complicated by her brother Danny's behavior and her mother's refusal to admit Danny is on the autism spectrum.

Even though Lefty and Righty like different things, they find they must learn to get along together without tripping over each other.