Georgie Collins knows exactly how to make it through life in a new town. Before her father left for Vietnam, he gave her standing orders never to let anyone mess with her, and she won’t. As long as she doesn’t allow the enemy to smell her fear, Georgie will survive seventh grade in Glendale, Indiana, just fine.

From the spring day in 1962 when Willis Merrill and his pet raccoon arrive in Maywood, Indiana, they are nothing but trouble for Lydia Carson. It's bad enough that Willis has moved in next door, but then he shows up in Lydia's sixth-grade class.

Eddie McCall is a good kid. He does his homework, picks up around the house, and cooks dinner for his single mom when she has to work late at a Chicago hotel. Then Eddie’s best friend, Whip, shows him a printout from the Internet - a picture of an honest-to-gosh naked woman — and suddenly Eddie can’t seem to think about anything else.

After Ivy’s stepfather disappears, Ivy’s mama begins waitressing at Dining Divinely to make ends meet. She also takes in a boarder—twelve-year-old Caleb, who’s the same age as Ivy and is the weirdest guy she’s ever met.