Summary

In Chapter 1, the novel opens in the spring of 1987 in a small New Jersey town called Wetbridge. Billy Marvin, the protagonist and narrator, is in the ninth grade and is turning 14 years old in a few weeks. He is an only child being raised by his single mother, Beth Marvin, who works night shifts at a local grocery store called Food World. Billy has two friends, Alfred (nicknamed Alf) and Clark. Billy, Alf, and Clark are not popular at school. Billy is obsessed with computers, Alf is rather hyperactive, and Clark, though handsome, is self-conscious of his left hand, the fingers of which are fused together due to a congenital condition called syndactyly. One day, while Billy and Clark are watching television at Billy’s house, Alf arrives in an excited state, exclaiming that famous game show hostess Vanna White is featured nude in...