12 year-old Derek has been identified as a reluctant reader by his teacher and his parents. He likes to read, but doesn't enjoy required materials. He says he prefers having his own adventures (tossing as hand grenades the avocados his mother is saving for dinner, climbing onto the roof with a croquet set to hit wooden balls into the satellite dish) to learning about someone else's life. When his teacher gives the class summer reading and writing assignments, Derek finds a way to distract himself from the task. He discovers an old newspaper clipping about a 17-year-old who drowned, and when he questions his mother about it she won't talk about it. Of course this makes him obsessed with knowing why they saved this article until his mother finally explains that the teen was babysitting him at the time and died saving him. Derek is determined to learn more about her death and his involvement in it. After one more stunt, his parents decide that he needs to be kept busy so send him to Study Camp where kids go to learn! There he meets up with one of his least favorite classmates, teacher's pet Carly. But one day after camp they give Carly a ride home he discovers that Carly is really interesting and not just a teachers pet. She has set up a maze of string to get through to get the prize.
Finally Derek convinces his parents they should go visit his grandmother, who lives close to Martha's Vinyard, so he can find out for himself what really happened when he wsa 2 years old. But he really discovers is that everyone has a story and while some may not be the real story it is the one that helps them get by.
The book takes place from end of school year to the beginning of the new year. Through out the book there are drawings in the the margins that feature vocabulary words illustrated with cartoons. While I found the character Derek extremely ADHD and annoying there was something kind of endeering about him and his quest for the truth.