Merci embarks on a seventh grade year shaped by high teacher expectations, a crush on a school-store co-worker, and a bossy classmate's plan for the annual Heart Ball.

David Federman has never felt appreciated. An academically gifted yet painfully forgettable member of his New Jersey high school class, the withdrawn, mild-mannered freshman arrives at Harvard fully expecting to be embraced by a new tribe of high-achieving peers. But, initially, his social prospects seem unlikely to change, sentencing him to a lifetime of anonymity. Then he meets Veronica Morgan Wells. Struck by her beauty, wit, and sophisticated...

Will the caveboy's crush respond favorably to his grand, attention-getting gestures?

"For the first time in her life, Natalie feels confident. Her talents are being recognized, she has supportive friends, and she's spending a ton of time with her crush, Derek. But when Derek tells Natalie that he just wants to be friends, Natalie's self-confidence quickly changes to self-doubt. As she tries to recover from her broken heart, Natalie casts aside her talents and even her friends. With no one to turn to, Natalie will have to pull herself...

"Seventh grade is going to be a real trial for Merci Su�arez. For science she's got no-nonsense Mr. Ellis, who expects her to be as smart as her brother, Roli. She's been assigned to co-manage the tiny school store with Wilson Bellevue, a boy she barely knows, but whom she might actually like. And she's tangling again with classmate Edna Santos, who is bossier and more obnoxious than ever now that she is in charge of the annual Heart Ball. One thing...