"Twelve-year-old Jacky "Ha-Ha" Hart is a class clown with a penchant for pranking--and when she's required to act in the school play to appease her frustrated teachers, she must conquer her stutter"-- Jacky Hart tries to turn over a new leaf and end her reign as class clown, even though being funny helps distract her from her mother's deployment and her father's increased absence from home.

When Rafe Kane enters middle school, he teams up with his best friend, "Leo the Silent," to create a game to make school more fun by trying to break every rule in the school's code of conduct.

Rafe thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city, but it's more competitive than he ever expected. To score big in class, he needs to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum. But when Rafe uncovers secrets about the family he's never known, he has to decide if he's ready...