Happy Kid! is a book about a very negative boy that changes his attitude with a book that his mother buys for him as a last resort to try and "fix" her son, so that he acts like a "normal" child and does "normal" things.  His mom ends up having to pay Kyle a dollar for every chapter that he reads in order to get him to start reading the book.  The reason for him starting to become a negative person is that he gets involved in a situation that involves the police that gets him a troublemaker reputation for the rest of 6th grade.  He thinks he can make a fresh start in 7th grade, but soon finds out that it's not that easy.

          Kyle finds himself in two advanced classes (where he feels really stupid) with his crush, Chelsea, and an overpowering load of homework.  The state tests are coming up, and he's got no friends except for Jake, and he doesn't count.  His mom thinks he's a nutcase and his sister teases and jokes about him daily.  His old friends don't seem to notice him after his "situation".  His tae kwondo teacher makes him do push ups because of a misunderstanding of directions.  His worst enemy, Mr. Kowzs, is in his tae kwondo class, too.  His teachers are treating him differently because of his "situation".  He has nowhere to sit at lunch.  Mr. Kowzs is now taking his grandmother on dates.  On top of all that, Melissa dragged him into a situation that he doesn't want to get involved in because it involves the principal and puts his shot of being in advanced language arts next year with Chelsea in jepordy.