Leah’s ambitious extracurricular plans cause trouble in this second book in the Team Awkward middle grade series that’s The Baby-Sitters Club meets Dork Diaries. How organized, driven Leah was born into her family, she’ll never know. They’re as different as can be. For example, while she’s trying to finish unpacking boxes from their move and get to bed at a decent time, her parents are listening to indie rock records and eating ice cream sundaes. Sometimes it feels like she’s the only responsible one in the house! So when her parents sign her up for art club—to “loosen her up” and “get her creative juices flowing”—Leah decides to ditch in favor of Quiz Bowl, which meets at the same time. But as she secretly attends Quiz Bowl and lies to her parents, her competitive spirit begins to take over, threatening her scheme and her friendships. Joy McCullough writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is the author of the middle grade novels Across the Pond , A Field Guide to Getting Lost , Not Starring Zadie Louise , Code Red , Kestrel Takes Flight , and Basil & Dahlia , as well as the middle grade series Team Awkward, and the picture books Harriet’s Ruffled Feathers , Champ and Major: First Dogs , and The Story of a Book . Her debut novel Blood Water Paint was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist. Visit her at JoyMcCullough.com. Veeda Bybee is a former journalist and holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the author of Lily and the Great Quake: A San Francisco Earthquake Survival Story , Li on Angel Island , and Shining a Light: Celebrating 40 Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World . Veeda is also the coauthor of the Team Awkward middle grade series and part of the Rural Voices and Calling the Moon anthologies. She has a rescue golden retriever/cattle dog named Sophie (from Howl’s Moving Castle ) and fluffy black cat, also from an animal shelter, named Zuko (from Avatar: The Last Airbender ). Veeda lives with her family in Nevada where she reads, writes, and bakes. Chapter 1 1. In one quick motion, I unpeel the last strip of packing tape from the moving box labeled LEAH MILLER’S ROOM. It comes off fast, with a loud riiip ! I pause for a moment, taking it all in. Everything else has been put away. Maybe this is the last box I’ll ever unpack! Finally I open the cardboard flaps. A whiff of grape-scented markers and the familiar aroma of books—along with a hint of something floral that I can’t quite identify—almost brings me back to our old home on Camp Humphreys, the United States Army base in South Korea. Growing up with my dad in the military, I’ve moved around a lot. He’s an army dentist and has been assigned to a new place every two years since I can remember. But he’s a few years away from retiring, and there’s a chance this will be our last PCS—that’s “permanent change of station,” in military terms. This could be the last time I have to pack up my life and start all over again. It’s taken a couple of months to get the remainder of our things from the move. The last time I saw my stuff, it was summer. I was wearing sandals and shorts. Now the trees have lost their leaves, and we are days into October. I’ve been in school for over a month now, with my wardrobe of jeans, thick socks, and sweaters. It’s almost nine thirty p.m. and I’m ready for bed, dressed in hot-pink pajamas covered with elves dancing and singing. (It was my mom’s very unfortunate choice of pattern for the family Christmas pajamas.) I hate them, but I’m almost out of laundry. This is my bottom-of-the-drawer choice that no one will ever see. But, whatever. I’ll just wear them to bed. “Look, Avery,” I say to the calico cat sitting on the neatly made twin bed. “I finally have everything. Maybe those cute sushi sticky notes are in here somewhere.” Yes! My intuition is right. Nestled near the top are sushi-shaped Post-its. A smiling California roll and blushing nigiri piece seem happy to see me again. Not as happy as I am to see them! I love stationery. It’s almost an obsession. Example: I got to choose the name of our family cat, and what did I named her? Avery, after an office-supply store that sells labels, binders, and all things to organize your life. Steven, my sixteen-year-old brother, thought the choice was completely nerdy. But the name Avery stuck, beating out Steven’s generic choice: Furball. I place the sticky notes on my desk next to cups full of color-coded gel pens, then continue to reach into the box and pull out remnants of a past life. A trophy from the elementary school spelling bee, where last year, in fifth grade, I took home first place with the word “instantaneous.” Tucked away in a folder labeled ACCOMPLISHMENTS is a certificate of straight As and perfect attendance. I take a stack of stickers to pass out tomorrow to my