Be the latecomer every morning or be the only one in charge of cleaning the infirmary.
Being a middle school student is no easy feat!

Every March, children move up to a new grade.
It's a time of pride and fear, excitement and worry, and it's especially unsettling for new students heading to higher-level schools.
Among them, the first year of middle school is the first year of entering adolescence in name and reality.
The change will be even more dramatic for first-year middle school students who go to school nervously wearing oversized uniforms.
No longer children, yet still immature in many ways, what kind of world awaits these children? "The World of Middle School 1st Graders" depicts the school life of these first-year middle school students.
Although four different authors tell four different stories, they can be read as one story because they are all set in the same middle school.


Goi's "The Birth of a Baby" begins with the trials faced by Oh Dong-chan, who enters a middle school far from home.
Now that I'm in middle school, my mom's declaration that she won't wake me up for school.
This must have been a bolt from the blue for Dongchan, who sleeps in a lot in the morning.
As expected, I rush out every morning, but I miss the same bus and am late every time.
And then a female student named 'Chao' appears in front of Dongchan.
A strange kid who gets into an argument with the same woman at the same time every morning when Dongchan is late.
As it turns out, Chao is fighting and being late to feed a stray cat.
It may be natural for a middle school student who has just entered a new world to cherish the precious lives of young people.


Kim Seong-woon's "Magic Infirmary Cleaning Staff: Kim Min-ki and Two Others" depicts the story of Kim Min-ki escaping bullying after entering middle school and suddenly becoming a loner.
Min-gi is teased as 'Mi-gom (stupid bear)' because of his large size and slow speech.
The children treat the gentle and kind Min-gi roughly as if it were natural, and they even do not hesitate to badmouth him in front of him.
One day, while he was feeling down, something good happens to Min-ki, who is assigned to clean the infirmary, a job that no one wants to take on.
It seemed like a strange girl, Yoon Bo-ra, was hanging around Min-gi, but then she started hanging out with Park Sung-bae, who was on cleaning duty, without any hesitation.
How nice it is to have a friend with whom you can wait for the bus, stop by the convenience store, and exchange silly jokes.
And as Min-gi gradually adjusts to school life, Bora tells him a surprising story.
This is a story that powerfully cheers on first-year middle school students who are struggling to adapt to a new and unfamiliar world.

A world full of possibilities unfolds before us.
A story that encourages all the first-year middle school students in the world.

An Mi-ran's "Strawberry Brother's True Feelings" tells a love story about first-year middle school students on a spring day when cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
How can you differentiate between liking someone and wanting to date them? What's the difference between liking someone and being polite to others? In Korean class, we learn about the Joseon Dynasty romance that transcends class, like "I Picked the Willows and Cut Them Down to Send Them Away." But in middle school classrooms, rude words and actions are rampant everywhere.
If you want to make friends of the opposite sex, you must cultivate the courage to break off a cherry blossom branch and barge into another classroom, and be polite to others.
The story of a middle school first-year student's love unfolds.


Eunyoung's "One Day We" tells the story of the three musketeers' bumbling freshman years: Lee Hyunwoo, who is upset because he is shorter than his childhood friend Go Eunjae, Ki Dongryong, who believes he has too much talent, and Lee Hajun, who is nervous because middle school is a dangerous place.
Hyunwoo is constantly bothered by Eunjae's lonely appearance that he happens to see, Dongryong tries out for the soccer club, dance club, and drama club one after another to discover his talents, and Hajun finds the courage to correct an unexpected mistake.
While misunderstandings, mistakes, and missteps run rampant, children gradually discover their true selves.
What kind of future awaits these children?

There are countless fourteen-year-olds in the world, and the spring of their first year of middle school will be different for each of them.
The school uniforms are still awkward, the school building looks a bit cold, and the teachers and seniors are freezing.
Right now, I'm a bit confused about what to do and what's going on, but as time goes by, I'll naturally adapt to school and become a proper middle school student.
As you make new friends and discover the good in others, the unfamiliar and scary world will eventually become familiar.
Because you will gradually grow in it, your mind will broaden, and your horizons will open.
The four stories look at the world of middle school students with affectionate and warm eyes, cheering them on as they begin their journey.
This is a book that would be great to read to all the first-year middle school students around the world who are heading to school this spring with excited hearts.

I jumped out of bed and opened my phone.
A dozen or so alarms fill the phone screen.
I set it to ring again every 5 minutes, but I didn't hear a single thing.
oh my god.
I was hoping, but it was as expected.
7:40.
Perception, perception!
--- From "The Birth of a Baby"

“But is it true that I have a lot of friends?” “Yeah, it’s true.” “Did I lose weight by any chance?” Yoon Bo-ra shook her head.
“No, it’s similar to now.” Kim Min-ki looked depressed again.
“So you’re good at speaking?” “Not really?” “But how are you popular?” “Ugh!” Yoon Bo-ra patted Kim Min-ki on the shoulder.
“That’s because you’re a good person.
Being a good person, appearance, or speaking skills have nothing to do with it.
The kids said they liked you because you were kind and affectionate.
"--- From "Kim Min-ki and 2 others in charge of cleaning the Magic Infirmary"

“Hey, Hwijun.
No, it's my brother.
“When did you start thinking about dating Siyu? Why?” Huijun answered briefly.
"I don't think it's polite to ignore sincerity." Sincerity? It's true that Siyu has always been sincere.
The first confession was sincere, the second was sincere, and the fifth will be too.
The moment of sincerity was only brief.
--- From "Strawberry Oppa's True Feelings"

“The playground is dangerous.” Ki-Dong-Ryong’s eyes widened.
Lee Ha-jun began to tell the story he had heard from his cousin in a very calm voice.
“You don’t know much, but middle school is different from elementary school.” Hajun’s cousin, a third-year middle school student, is said to have said this while sitting cross-legged with both hands in his pockets.
“Listen carefully to what I say from now on.
If elementary school is a zoo, middle school is a jungle, a jungle.
Do you know what a jungle is?

--- From "One Day We"