J and K are the most creative fifth graders at Dean Ashley Public School (DAPS). J loves to draw and his wordless stories are J-ENIUS! K loves to write and his stories are K-LASSIC!! Both J and K are determined to win the DAPS annual creative storytelling contest or at least get in the top five. And when they find out that they are both entering The Contest, it's the beginning of one of the most intense rivalries the world has ever seen.

After everything they’ve been through, Oliver and his mom finally have a place to call home. But Oliver’s fresh start feels more like a dead-end at his fancy new private school, where kids fly in on helicopters, wear the latest and most expensive sneakers, and go on luxury vacations. Oliver is only there because his mom’s the school custodian. Oliver wishes his life could be easier. And then one day, after slipping a wish into a mysterious mail slot, it suddenly comes true.

Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn is about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now. Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he's in big trouble for knocking down some dead old lady's headstone. Turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: she'll drop all the charges if he agrees to climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in a single summer.

Jin is a Stone Lion—one of the guardians of the Old City Gate who is charged to watch over humans and protect the Sacred Sphere. But to Jin, those boring duties feel like a waste of time. What isn’t a waste of time? Perfecting his zuqiu kick, scoring a Golden Goal, and becoming the most legendary player of all the spirit world.

In the deepest recesses of the ocean, Graciela—once an ordinary girl—now makes sea glass and assists her friend, Amina, as she welcomes newly awakened sea ghosts from their death sleep. Though Graciela’s spirit is young, she has lived at the bottom of the ocean for more than a hundred years. Meanwhile, in the mortal world on land, twelve-year-old Jorge Leon works in his family’s forge. He’s heard of the supernatural spirits living beneath the ocean’s waves—tales that do nothing to quell his fear of the water.