Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja is a series of children's books by Marcus Emerson. The series focuses around 11-year-old Chase Cooper at Buchanan School, who is accepted into his school's secret ninja clan. He is to keep his and the clan's identity a secret, while also dealing with Wyatt, the leader of the Red Ninja clan. Despite these issues, he's in the company of his cousin Zoe, and his friends Brayden, Naomi, and Faith.
The series has had 12 books released, and an activity book called How To Ninja, which was released in 2018.
Unrelated to Tomo: I was an 8th Grade Ninja or Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, which not only have different plots, but are more on the supernatural side of storytelling than slice-of-life.
Examples of tropes used in Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja:
- The Bully: Wyatt is the leader of the Red Ninja clan, and he has no qualms with being a jerkass and enemy towards Chase. He also dresses in slighly preppy attire.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: In "Scavengers", Daisy seems to have won the election for the new school president, and she is excited as she jumps out of her seat. That is, until Melvin busts her for winning fake pink ballot votes. She is asked to have a word with Principal Davis, and her win was rescinded. Because Chase came second, he was elected as school president, but he decided to withdraw, as he believed that Zoe, who came third, deserved the title more than him.
- Evil All Along: Daisy from "Scavengers" appears as a very nice person as she is first introduced, and Chase at first thinks the name suits her. However, she is hiding the fact that she herself is the queen of the Scavengers, and as the votes and winner are about to be revealed, she shows off her arrogance towards Chase by asking how it would feel if he lost.
- Kid Hero: Chase himself is the protagonist of the series, the leader of the school’s ninja clan, and is to defeat other clans from attacking or uncovering his own clan. In this case, it’s downplayed, since the series leans more towards slice-of-life.
- Loser Team Mascot: Buchanan School's new mascot is a moose, and the new mascot is hated among the students. There's also a moose costume too, and wearing it is regarded as embarrassing. Individuals who do so are also frequently picked on in costume. Chase was previously forced to don the moose outfit during sport, while trying to conceal his identity when Wyatt and his peers were around.
- Mr. Smith: Daisy created counterfeit votes with the pseudonyms "John Doe", and other variants, written on each ballot slip, so she could exploit the limited rules on votes from outside the school. She was eventually busted by Melvin, after he searched up the nonexistent homeschooled kids.
- Ordinary High-School Student: An downplayed example below middle school. Chase Cooper starts off as an 11-year-old scrawny kid with the average interests of an 11-year-old. Eventually, he gets elected into the school's secret ninja clan, and eventually becomes the leader of the ninja clan. He also must learn about his responsibilities too, and fight against any other antagonistic clan.
- Pirates vs. Ninjas: The school's ninja clan and the pirate clan are enemies in "Pirate Invasion". The leader of the pirate clan also happens to be Wyatt's cousin, Carlyle.
- Tagline: Every book's back cover has the written tagline: "My name is Chase Cooper, and I'm a 6th grade ninja".
