Greg Heffley and his family escape to a tropical island resort for some much-needed rest and relaxation, but sun poisoning, stomach troubles, and venomous creatures all threaten their vacation.

Lillian and Madison were unlikely, yet inseparable friends at their boarding school. Then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal, and they have barely spoken since. Years later, Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help. Madison's twin stepkids are moving in, and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there's a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated. Lillian is convinced...

The little boy Charlie Bucket lives in a large and friendly, but very poor family. They cannot afford even the most basic necessities. And Charlie really, really loves chocolate... Not far from their house there is a mysterious chocolate factory. Every morning on the way to school, Charlie feels the sweet smell of chocolate in the air and stops in front of the gate: two hundred types of chocolate, chocolate ice cream that never melts, marshmallows...

When his mother dies, 38-year-old Bartholomew Neil, who doesn't know how to be on his own, discovers a letter in his mother's underwear drawer that causes him to write a series of highly intimate letters to actor Richard Gere, while embarking on a quest to find out where he belongs.

Henry Huggins gets carried away with his own ambitions when he longs for a paper route of his own, and gets some unexpected help from the irrespressible and inescapable ramona Quimby.

"Judy never intended to start wearing the dog. But when she stumbled across her son Teddy's old baby sling during a halfhearted basement cleaning, something in her snapped. So: the dog went into the sling, Judy felt connected to another living being, and she's repeated the process every day since. Life hasn't gone according to Judy's plan. Her career as a children's book author offered a glimpse of success before taking an embarrassing nose dive....

Middle-schooler Greg Heffley nimbly sidesteps his father's attempts to change his wimpy ways until his father threatens to send him to military school.

Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.

"Stick Dog and his friends must execute a master plan for stealing hot dogs"--

"School's out, and Miles and Niles are running wild in the woods outside town: climbing trees, exploring caves, and, yes, pranking. But these leafy, lazy days of mischief darken when bully Josh Barkin and his cadets from a nearby kids' boot camp discover the merrymakers--and vow to destroy them"--