Both of his parents are in jail due to growing marijuana in their basement, leading to Jake struggling to make sense of the world and discover his true self amid the turmoil of his family life.

Dugan arranges for Jake's placement in a home school run by an eccentric family of artists, the Applewhites.

Jake has challenges navigating academic, social, and emotional life among the offbeat Applewhites.

He becomes acquainted with E.D., the 12-year-old child of the Applewhite family, and together, they recognize their differences, build on each other's strengths, and find ways to succeed.

Applewhite is named after novelist Edith Wharton, and thrives on a sense of organization and structure, while the rest of her family is spontaneous and craves freedom.

After attending Lucille's workshop at the middle school, he pushes Jake to "enroll" at The Creative Academy.

Jeremy Bernstein is a young journalist who stays with the Applewhites to document their artistic endeavors.

On School Library Journal, Faith Brautigam said, "This has terrific book talk and read-aloud potential, and will help fill the need for humorous contemporary fiction.

"[1] Ilene Cooper said, "She takes a rather predictable plot (the tough kid is tamed by exposure to a good family), and twists it into a screwball comedy that pushes the story to a whole new place on a booklist.