Hope (Debbie Rigaud) Books in Order

The Hope books follow Hope Roberts, an eleven-year-old who wants to be an astrophysicist and has a habit of seeing a problem and deciding she should fix it. She loves swimming, Galaxy Girl comics, and her rescue dogs, and she walks into middle school with more energy than caution. These books, written by Alyssa Milano and Debbie Rigaud, are interested in big causes, but they are just as interested in the messy, everyday work of growing up.

The first book, Project Middle School, sets the pattern. Hope starts sixth grade expecting to do well, then runs straight into the stuff school never makes easy: a shifting friendship with her best friend Sam, tension with a new classmate, and a science club where the boys keep brushing off the girls' ideas. Hope's instinct is to push harder. Sometimes that helps. Sometimes it makes the problem even bigger.

That is really the heart of the series.

Each later book gives Hope a new cause and a new lesson. In Project Animal Rescue, she throws herself into saving a local shelter. In Project Class President, she runs for office and learns that good intentions are not the same as good leadership. In Project Go Green, environmental activism takes center stage as she pushes for greener habits at school and beyond. The through line is not perfection. It is Hope learning how to turn passion into something useful, shared, and realistic.

The setting stays close to school, home, and neighborhood life, which helps the stakes feel real for middle grade readers. These are books about posters, projects, meetings, campaign promises, and everyday acts of advocacy. Family life matters too, because Hope does not do any of this in a vacuum. Even when she is dreaming big, the stories keep one foot in ordinary sixth-grade life: friendship wobble, embarrassment, and the hard work of listening when other people do not move at her speed.

Hope means well. Always.

The tone is upbeat and funny, but not weightless. The series treats activism as exciting work, and also as work that can go sideways when you rush, assume too much, or forget that other people have a say. That balance gives Hope its charm. If you want middle grade books with STEM energy, school drama, strong friendships, and a main character who learns as she goes, this series is an easy one to settle into.