Lucas Cott is one of the smartest kids in Mrs. Hockaday's third grade class, but everyone thinks he's just the class clown. He races pencils, cracks jokes, and calls out answers without raising his hand. Of course, he gets in trouble a lot—but Lucas blames that on Cricket Kaufman, the biggest tattletale in the third grade.

One day, Lucas decides that he doesn't want to get in trouble anymore. From now on, he's going to become the perfect student. But when Lucas tries to change his ways, the most unexpected things begin to happen.