More went on in sixth grade than the rest of my life put together. In just two months, I fell in love, watched my family break into pieces, and came this close to getting beaten to a pulp along with all my friends -- not to mention meeting Mickey Mantle and getting attacked by the biggest juvenile delinquent in the school. It's like this year was a nuclear chain reaction, exploding the scared little kid I used to be and turning me into a more grown-up self.

Things are not always how they seem. That's what Marc Chaikin learns in this touching, beautifully wrought coming-of-age novel set in the 1960s. When his sixth-grade class, 6-321, gets caught up in a feud with a rival class, Marc's life is turned upside-down. As he watches the things and the people he took for granted change before his eyes, he learns that maybe he has the power to change them -- and that he doesn't have to stay invisible in order to survive.