Here is a story that introduces a shy, unassuming boy who just wants to get through his day. Tom's father is a botanist and his mother is a zealous environmental activist; he is perennially reminded that the planet is in peril. Set in the Midwest during the mid-1970s, Tom Daily is determined to spend his 9th grade year under the radar. When Bucky Brogan steals his bike, Tom is relegated to the school bus where he meets Seamus, a precocious kid who rarely attends school. Deathly afraid of drowning, Seamus's life has been inexorably altered by the tragic consequences of the Vietnam War, and yet, he becomes the one person who can help Tom defeat the school bully.

Ms. Whimbly, their formidable English teacher, is passionate about poetry and poppies, and a stickler for grammar. She also knows a lot about Italian racing bicycles and where to find them. She creates a school-wide poetry contest and offers a prize that Tom cannot live without, despite his strong aversion to poetry. Tom discovers how curiosity and language awaken within him a sense of self-confidence and wonder.