Hardcastle Middle School student Donovan Curtis cannot resist pulling pranks. An impulse overtakes him, and he cannot stop himself from, for example, “throwing darts at a pool float to test [his] sister’s swimming skills,” “spitting back at the llamas as the zoo,” or making “smart-alecky comments” (5). He searches ancestry.com for relatives who might help explain his struggle to control his impulses but finds nothing clarifying.

In the principal’s office for engaging in a spitball war with his friends, Daniel Sanderson and Daniel Nussbaum, Donovan makes a “smart-alecky” comment that lands him in further trouble (5). As he and the Daniels wait to see the principal, Donovan notices a poster advertising a basketball game against the school’s arch rival and concocts a cheer: “Our fans are great; our team is nifty! We’re going to get blown out by fifty!” (5). With the microphone in reach, Donovan cannot resist the temptation to broadcast his cheer over the school’s public-address system. Donovan receives a detention.

When his supervising teacher briefly leaves to watch the basketball game, the Daniels help Donovan escape out an open window. Wandering around campus, they pass a statue of Atlas on the school lawn.