Chapters 1 - 5 Summary

The novel opens with one of the protagonists, E.D. Applewhite explaining that her name is spelled with the letters and should be pronounced as such, not as "Edie" which is not her name. The twelve-year-old girl is explaining this to Jake Semple, a delinquent boy that has come to stay with her family. According to E.D.'s friend Melissa, Jake Semple is famous for burning down his old school. It just so happened that E.D.'s aunt Lucille had been leading a poetry workshop at the time when Jake was kicked out of school and told the headmaster about the Creative Academy, the school the Applewhites run from home, and that she thought it would be the perfect school for the troubled boy. The entire Applewhite family is happy to welcome Jake into their home, but E.D...