Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don't get noticed by the mean
kids.
Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar
interests and join them.
On her first day at her new school, Penelope--Peppi--Torres reminds
herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in the
hall, Jaime Thompson, she's already broken the first rule, and the mean
kids start calling her the "nerder girlfriend." How does she handle this
crisis? By shoving poor Jaime and running away!
Falling back on rule two and surrounding herself with new friends in the
art club, Peppi still can't help feeling ashamed about the way she
treated Jaime. Things are already awkward enough between the two, but to
make matters worse, he's a member of her own club's archrivals--the
science club! And when the two clubs go to war, Peppi realizes that
sometimes you have to break the rules to survive middle school!