Summary

The novel is narrated in first-person present by the narrator, Zoey Albro, a seventh grader. In Chapter One, she sits on the couch eating a chocolate pudding that she saved from her school lunch and watching her baby brother, Hector. Her other siblings, Bryce and Aurora (four and three), are in the bedroom playing. Zoey rarely has quiet time at home, so she takes out her backpack and decides to work on her debate prep packet. She never does homework, or big projects. The one time she did turn in a poster project, Kaylee Vine made fun of her. However, this project does not require anything except knowledge. Zoey sets out to answer the debate questions: Which animal is best? She has always been obsessed with octopuses—ever since she got a DVD from the library free shelf called The Mysterious and Fascinating...