Culture and community are considered key aspects of effective middle level education. Effective schools for young adolescents are inviting, inclusive, and supportive; are staffed with adults who support youths' academic and personal development; and affirm the important role that families play in educating youth. In this article, the authors suggest that middle level educators use the tools of research--specifically, narrative inquiry--to better understand the lives of the young adolescents they teach and to develop more supportive classroom communities and cultures. Such inquiry can enrich and deepen teachers' complex understandings of adolescent students' lives, enhance adolescent students' affiliation with school, and develop relationships between middle level teachers and their students. In this article, the authors ask: How can middle level teachers draw on tools of narrative inquiry to better understand and support their students' academic achievement, school affiliation, and general well-being? They illustrate the value of narrative inquiry through the stories of three adolescent students, gathered through life history interviews.