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!