Wren starts high school seven years early, and the faculty of Cedar Bluff discovers that a nine-year-old can grade a physics test faster than they can.

A negotiated seating chart falls apart on day two, and Marguerite takes a second shift at the diner to pay for a telescope nobody asked about.

Wren plans her own birthday down to the minute. Her brother plans a rival party in the garage with considerably fewer rules.

The county library gets a new silence policy, a new librarian, and one very persistent patron who has read the entire reference shelf twice.

Grandmother Ottilie arrives for a weekend and stays eleven days, rearranging the kitchen and the family's entire sense of order.