Sylvan has been angry ever since his parents split up. And now that an embarrassing photo has appeared in the paper, he's stuck with a lame nickname too. Charity is back in the United States after several years in Africa. And she's learning that home can be a strange place when you've been away for a while. Neither of them knows what's up with Brian. He spends whole afternoons alone on his trampoline. From the first day of school, Sylvan knows he doesn't want to hang out with weirdoes like Charity or Brian. He'd rather just be a normal kid. But when the principal gets ready to fire their favorite teacher, Sylvan, Charity, and Brian have to find a way to work together.