"Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She's been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what's hiding inside them. But now she's discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look...

"Anyone caught reading this notebook without my permission will be tossed in the bayou with a rabid snapping turtle! Seriously, I mean it! My name is Russell Weinwright and if you think you've got problems in middle school, try being a half kid, half algae swamp creature who's terrible at sports! It's not easy. I eat sunlight for lunch, I've got duck weed for hair, and I think a frog might be living in my tree trunk arm. I'm literally pond scum! Some...