Seven fifth-graders at Snow Hill School in Connecticut relate how their lives are changed for the better by "rookie teacher" Mr. Terupt.

Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.

Ms. Hannah wears dresses made out of potholders and collects garbage instead of throwing it out. Plus she's making A.J. be partners with smelly Andrea. This is the worst art class ever!

Disaster reigns when A.J. participates in the school's holiday pageant celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, but when he asks her to wait a while before showing her new purse, she does something for which she is very sorry later.

Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.

Imaginative, eleven-year-old Gina, her mysterious new neighbor, Antonio, and their classmates are inspired by an unusual young teacher to see who they are and envision who they are meant to become.

Miss Daisy's unusual teaching methods surprise her second grade students, especially reluctant learner A.J.

Seventeen-year-old Claire Alalay likes herself best when she plays her father's old piano, a welcome escape from the sadness of missing him - and from her traditional Filipino mother's prayer groups. After placing third in a local competition, and with hopes of earning a college scholarship, Claire auditions for Paul Avon, a prominent piano teacher, who agrees to take Claire as a pupil. Soon Claire loses herself in Paul's world and his way of digging...

In her out-of-the-ordinary reading class, Miss Smith uses her incredible storybook to transport her students to Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," where they have an adventure with dinosaurs.