Max Dugan, 10, is a fourth-grader battling bullies at school and his emotions at home; his father deployed to Afghanistan and did not return. His mother, Kate, a labor-and-delivery nurse, struggles to maintain the family, which also includes Scarlett, 14, and Maddy, 4. The therapist says they are not coping well. In fact, the Dugan family is a mess—until a strange boy named Norbert moves in next door and changes their lives in more ways than they could ever imagine.