"I keep trying to throw away all the garbage that goes on at school. But just for trying to do what's right, I get a whole truckload dumped on me. Wait 'til Ma talks with the principal."
Harmon doesn't fit in the hole he gets shoved into. He has to break out. In the bizarre world of middle school, no good deed goes unpunished. Students who do homework, friends who look out for each other, teachers who try to keep kids interested--they all get slammed. With his grades at an all-time low, and his weight off the charts, Harmon is headed for disaster. He's bombarded by his classmates' jeering, his mother's nagging, his father's expectations, and his doctor's orders. Even in his music, he finds too many wrong notes. Just when he most wishes that the whole noisy world would just go away, he finds a new world worth exploring.