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!