Twelve-year-old Jonathan Grisby has been sent to the Slabhenge Reformatory School for Troubled Boys, a former lunatic asylum which is currently run by a sadist who enjoys punishing the boys and setting them against each other; but when a lightning strike kills all the adults the boys find themselves suddenly free--and trapped on Scar Island which seems to be sinking into the ocean.

Lonely Brown does not get along with the other colored pencils in the box, who are all friends, until he learns that the others do not like him because he is not friendly, and that to have friends he must like himself and act like a friend.

Joe and Alan's plan to get revenge on Billy backfires when their secret weapon, the prettiest girl in their fifth grade class, becomes Billy's friend instead.

For ten-year-old Gabe, the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment is all that he dreamed it would be, but he must work hard to write about the fun in letters to Zack, his cool future stepbrother, without revealing that it is a camp for "nerds."

Gabe has looked forward to another six glorious weeks at the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment, but when a wildfire closes the nearby camp that Zack, Gabe's stepbrother, was supposed to attend, the Nerd Camp faces a "cool-kid invasion" that could mean big trouble.

When Norbert is less than eager to try new food, he experiences first-hand what it's like to be on the receiving end of peer pressure. Norbert's imaginative descriptions of how it feels to have your peer pressure gauge continue to rise will draw readers in, while they witness his internal deliberation as he tries to let his inner voice shine.

Sammy never tattles. But what will he do when his best friend is bullied and targeted for a beatdown after school? Will Sammy save his friend by seeking help or will he be too scared to report the threat because he doesn't want to be known as the class snitch?--Publisher.