The novel begins with a letter from middle school student Nora Tucker to the local Library Board. It introduces the documents that compose the narrative as her contribution to the Wolf Creek Community Time Capsule Project; she says they can only be used for the project if all documents are included to present a clear picture of what happened this summer. The project is the students’ summer homework; they are asked to write letters and lists to be read by future residents.

It is June, the end of the school year, and most students are looking forward to the Wolf Creek Middle School field day, which includes a cookout and the Mad Mile Race—the winner gets to throw water balloons at the school principal. Nora is determined to win the race since both her mother and her brother water-ballooned the past principal as part of the tradition. She is resentful when new student Elidee Jones beats her race time during practice by almost 30 seconds. Other students have been whispering about how Elidee and her mother moved to Wolf Creek to be near the prison, where her brother, Troy, is incarcerated, but Nora doesn’t think this counts as gossip because people have been nice to Elidee.