Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Transfer student Rafe Khatchadorian lives in a middle-class home with his mother Jules, his rebellious younger sister Georgia, and Jules's lazy, child-hating boyfriend (later fiancé) Bear. He has an overactive imagination and is very passionate about his artistic talent. Rafe cannot wait to start his first day at Hills Village Middle School, but it does not go as he hopes when he finds out that Principal Dwight, Vice-Principal Ida Stricker, and most of the teachers at the school, are very cruel and much worse than the bullies, except for Mr. Teller (Rafe's English teacher) who doesn't like Dwight and Stricker's antics. After Dwight destroys Rafe's sketchbook by throwing it into a bucket full of acid, Rafe and his imaginary friend Leo (his late younger brother who died from cancer) come up with an idea to start a massive "insurrection" to go up against Principal Dwight and Stricker, breaking every rule in the rule book. They unleash several pranks on Principal Dwight, Stricker, and the school staff, including putting sticky notes all over the school, filling Gus the janitor's closet with plastic balls, dyeing Principal Dwight's hair pink, and turning the school's trophy case into a fish tank. He refers to this plan as "Operation Rules Aren't For Everyone," or R.A.F.E.