Here is a story that introduces a shy, unassuming boy who just wants to get through his day. ‎Tom's father is a botanist and his mother is a zealous environmental activist; he ‎is perennially reminded that the planet is in peril. Set in the Midwest during the mid-1970s, ‎Tom Daily is determined to spend his 9th grade year under the radar. When Bucky Brogan steals ‎his bike, Tom is relegated to the school bus where he meets Seamus, a precocious kid ‎who rarely attends school. Deathly afraid of drowning, Seamus's life has been inexorably altered ‎by the tragic consequences of the Vietnam War, and yet, he becomes the one person who can ‎help Tom defeat the school bully. ‎
Ms. Whimbly, their formidable English teacher, is passionate about poetry and poppies, ‎and a stickler for grammar. She also knows a lot about Italian racing bicycles and where to find ‎them. She creates a school-wide poetry contest and offers a prize that Tom cannot live without, ‎despite his strong aversion to poetry. Tom discovers how curiosity and language awaken within ‎him a sense of self-confidence and wonder.‎