Told by Sylvan and Charity in alternating chapters, this is the story of two very different kids who have to take a hard look at who they really are, and just what "normal" means. Going into fifth grade, Sylvan is determined to be a plain-vanilla, normal kid. He's just been through a long stretch of anger and acting out, after his parents split up, and now that things are better, he just wants to blend in-which isn't easy when your mom is a sign-waving activist who wants you to be part of her political protests., As a new kid in the same class, Charity wants to make friends and fit in-which isn't easy when you've just arrived in this mystifying American place after spending half your life in Africa with missionary parents. There she had plenty of friends, and her pastor father led the community-until one of his projects ended in tragedy and sent the whole bewildered family back to America. Charity's former confidence slips away as she discovers all the rules are different here, and everyone thinks she's weird., From the very first day, Sylvan knows he doesn't want to hang around with kids like Charity-or the oddest member of the class, a nervous boy named Brian who doesn't say much and spends a lot of time obsessively jucnping on his trampoline., But then school projects force them to work together-or at least try. And when the school's harsh principal seems ready to fire their beloved teacher, Mr. In, the class unites to fight back.