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Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library.

Miles Darr and his friends in room 217 love band. And they love their director, Mr. Byrd. Colorful tropical shirts? Check. Sandals in winter? Check. High expectations? Double check. But lately, he's been distracted. And rumor has it, Byrd might be flying the nest. Can they convince him to stay? Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards.

Colby Ellis wants to start his own band. He has the drive. He has his saxophone. And he has a garage. He just needs a name. And bandmates! He finds some fresh faces, and some of his friends from Benton Bluff Junior High band join too. But harmony isn't their forte, so Colby makes a bold decision. Will it be the end of the band, or just the beginning?

When her grandparents sign her up for the Benton Bluff Junior High band Tally Nguyen is horrified and worried about what the kids on her snowboarding team will think--but she comes to realize that she doesn't need to choose between the groups.

When one of the other members of Benton Bluff Junior High band shows up with a shiny new trombone, Kori Neal's school-loaner suddenly seems beat-up and old so she comes up with an idea to organize a fund-raiser to buy new instruments--until advice from a famous local jazz musician gives her a clearer perspective on the issue.

The Benton Bluff Junior High band is one of a number of bands that will compete to perform for a chance to play for the governor, and two of the band members are fighting over who gets to be the soloist--Baylor Meece (clarinet) is not one of them, so can she come up with a plan to bring the band back into harmony?

Flutist Hope James is under a lot of pressure from her mother to win first chair in the band, so when Sherman Frye enrolls at Benton Bluff Junior High she panics because he could steal it from her--so Hope and her friend Baylor come up with a plan to sabotage Sherman, not realizing that he is under pressure too.

It all comes down to this.

Seventh-grade friends Maeve and Avery discover that life can sometimes be tough as they face divorce in their families, boy trouble, and peer pressure by the Queens of Mean.

Charlotte, a new student at Abigail Adams Junior High, is sure she has ruined her chances for friendship after committing a big blunder in the cafeteria, but she and her assigned lunch partners, Katani, Maeve, and Avery manage to bond anyway--eventually realizing that everyone has embarrassing moments.