Cathy Hillstead has spent most of her life blending into the background and has never really been noticed. She even describes herself as ""wallpaper with hair."" But she has high hopes her freshman year of high school will be different; she longs to emerge from the shadows and be recognized. She wants to fit in and truly be seen as someone special. She believes this could be her new beginning, when she can become whoever she wants to be. There's no reason she can't overcome her shortcomings, like her extreme awkwardness, lack of balance and grace, gripping fear of large crowds, persistent negative attitude, and smart mouth, right? Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that's the case, as even her first day back to school is filled with terribly embarrassing (although hilarious to read) situations. Although she isn't met with picture-perfect circumstances, she does have a great friend and a loving family to help her through her tribulations, reminding her what everyone else thinks of her isn't as important as loving herself for who she is: an intelligent, unique, and gifted young lady. And what's so wrong with that?