Rafe first describes HVMS as a penitentiary for children his age, indicating that he is extremely uncomfortable as a new sixth-grader. Within the first couple of hours, he encounters a bully who will become his nemesis, has a teacher yell at him, hears from his one true friend that he will never be a popular, high-achieving student, and learns that a 26-page book of rules will guide all his conduct. Rafe responds to the tsunami of new, oppressive experiences by inventing a game, Operation R.A.F.E., centered around the rebellious idea that he will break every single rule in the code of conduct at some point during the school year. He commences this plan by setting off a fire alarm to disrupt the opening assembly.

Rafe does not present himself as malicious, which causes the reader to speculate about why he decides to be creatively disruptive. Throughout the narrative covering six months of the school year, readers learn that—in addition to dealing with bullies in school and at home—Rafe has low self-esteem. Unlike other students, he has no real friends. Rafe’s family endures the hardship of a subsistence life exacerbated by his mother’s unemployed, live-in fiancé.