Seven-year-old Grace gets so involved in working with Grace W. and Grace F. on a school project that she fails to understand why she and her best friend, Mimi, are drifting apart.
An admittedly "dork" middle-school teacher arranges for a rock superstar to teach her eighth-grade students, who each tell a story about the same topic, in the style of a rap, poem, monologue, screenplay, haiku, fairytale, and more.
Jack St. Bride arrives in the quiet town of Salem Falls, determined to rebuild his life and leave behind the accusations which ruined his reputation as a teacher, but just as his life is getting back on the right track, his past catches up with him.
After learning that her favorite teacher will be leaving for a trip to Egypt and will be absent for the remainder of the year, Clementine devises a plan to get rid of the substitute and get Mr. D'Matz to stay.
Luke knows his I??upiaq name is full of sounds white people can't say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students--Eskimo, Indian, White--line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there's some kind of war going on. Here, speaking I??upiaq--or any native language--is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey.