Kyon is your ordinary high school freshman who has long given up on his childhood dreams of encountering the fantastic and supernatural...or so he thought. From the very first day of school, his classmate-the beautiful but eccentric Haruhi Suzumiya-makes it very clear that her only desire is to meet aliens, time travelers, and psychics! A chance conversation between the two inspires Haruhi to form the SOS Brigade, a school club created for the sole purpose of gathering together such supernatural beings. The initial members consist of the mute bookworm Yuki Nagato, the timid but voluptuous Miharu Asahina, and the polite and ever-smiling Itsuki Koizumi. By the end of this first volume, Kyon quickly finds out that these seemingly "helpless victims" of Haruhi's are actually members of secret organizations-both futuristic and alien-with the single aim of keeping watch over Haruhi Suzumiya as she is the pinnacle of some major calamity on the horizon...

Haruhi holds the fate of the universe in her hands . . . lucky for you she doesn't know it! Meet Haruhi - a cute, determined girl, starting high school in a city where nothing exciting happens and absolutely no one understands her. Meet Kyon - the sarcastic guy who sits behind Haruhi in homeroom and the only boy Haruhi has ever opened up to. His fate is now tied to hers. Meet the S.O.S. Brigade - an after-school club organized by Haruhi with a mission to seek out the extraordinary. Oh, and their second mission? Keeping Haruhi happy . . . because even though she doesn't know it, Haruhi has the power to destroy the universe. Seriously. The phenomenon that took Japan by storm - with more than 4.5 million copies sold - is now available in the first-ever English edition.

When Kyon arrives at school, it seems like another average day--until he realizes Sasaki has wrapped North High in a closed space. Led to the SOS Brigade clubroom by Sasaki and Tachibana, Kyon knocks (just in case) and is surprised to find not a costumed Asahina, but instead a girl he's never seen before...and a very familiar face!

What if you woke up one morning, and everything changed? It's one week before Christmas Eve, and Haruhi and the S.O.S. Brigade (a club for her high school's strangest and most extraordinary students) are gearing up for holiday festivities. But just before the fun kicks off, Kyon, the only "normal" member, wakes up in a weird alternate dimension, one where Haruhi attends another school entirely, Nagato the time traveling robot is just an ordinary human, and Mikuru (the cute girl of Kyon's dreams) doesn't even recognize him-in other words, S.O.S. Brigade never existed. The only clue Kyon can find is a bookmark left by the robot version of Nagato, which leads him on a quest back in time, where he interacts with the storyline from "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", a short story from the previous Haruhi book, The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya. This fun and quirky holiday tale is reminiscent of A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life.

In this novel, the story follows the SOS Brigade'sfirst movie making project, starring Mikuru Asahina as the main protagonist.Additionally, Nagato is made the antagonist in the movie and Koizumi is theconflict hero, who is supposed to end happily ever after with Mikuru, but facescompeting interests from Nagato. Haruhi comes up with the idea that the SOSBrigade needs to do something for the upcoming cultural festival. Her class isdoing a questionnaire, which is boring in her mind. She decides to make a movie,starring Mikuru. However, Haruhi begins to confuse the movie world with the realworld, and the real world begins to become more like her movie. The pigeons infront of the shrine turn white, then into Passenger Pigeons, cherry treesblossom in autumn, Mikuru begins to shoot lasers out of her eyes, and the catShamisen begins to talk. By the efforts of Itsuki and Yuki, Kyon eventuallyconvinces Haruhi to add a disclaimer at the end that the movie is a work offiction. Overnight, the movie apparently edits itself, and is shown. With thedisclaimer, Haruhi herself realizes it is a work of fiction, and the worldreverts back to normal.

Kyon knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to return to December 18th of the previous year, to the three days when the SOS Brigade and his supernatural friends suddenly disappeared. Back then, Kyon was cruelly stabbed by alien rogue Ryouko Asakura and nearly bled out on the school roof. How will he fare this time around?

Sometimes, even Haruhi doesn't know what she wants! As the SOS Brigade rings in the New Year with a shrine visit, there's a surprising lack of supernatural or reality-bending phenomena. Despite this, Kyon is as wary as ever. After all, Haruhi has a tendency to turn even the most mundane events into impossible uproars! That danger could not be more apparent than when their club activities lead them into the world of school wonders and whodunit mysteries. Even peaceful moments are remarkably eccentric when Haruhi is around...

After closing a time loop fiasco in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (Vol. 5), our protagonist Kyon is ready to start a new year with a blank slate--no time travel, no apocalyptic worries, and maybe some actual peace and quiet with the SOS Brigade, a club comprised of his high school's most extraordinary students. Their leader is Haruhi, a bold, brash girl who doesn't realize that she's actually a powerful goddess whose moods can easily change the balance of the universe. Just as Kyon starts to get comfortable, he gets a visit from his friend Mikuru. Except this isn't his Mikuru; it's a Mikuru from eight days in the future! Time traveling shenanigans start all over again as Kyon, guided by the future Mikuru, attempts to stop a terrible future from becoming a reality.

Two stories continue the adventure in Volume 8 of the Haruhi Suzumiya series. Editor-in-Chief, Straight Ahead!Since the beginning of the year, the SOS Brigade has been masking as the Literature Club to be recognized as an official high school organization. But when the new student council president threatens to disband the group, the members must write a collection of literature. Naturally, Haruhi assume the role of editor-in-chief and leads the team to publication with hilarious results. Wandering ShadowFrom writers to detectives, the SOS Brigade does it all. When fellow classmate Sanaka comes to the club seeking help, the team (well, Haruhi) is up to the task. A well-trodden popular park path has suddenly begun to terrify the neighborhood dogs, and Haruhi suspects that its being haunted by animal spirits. It looks like the SOS Brigade is about to perform its first first canine exorcism!

As the second year of high school begins, Haruhi's cynical and sarcastic confidant Kyon, the only "normal" member of the SOS Brigade, finds himself meeting Sasaki, an old friend from his days in junior high. Haruhi and Sasaki's shared friendship with Kyon and, possibly, shared abilities, causes tension between the two and Kyon knows Haurhi's dissatisfaction can have dire consequences! Kyon and Sasaki's chance meeting could affect his future, the future of the SOS Brigade, and the world forever. This ninth volume of the Haruhi Suzumiya series is the first to use two alternate stories for the same plot with different endings. The story continues in the next novel, The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya.