Bart Misenheimer can't stop talking to himself: ..".celerity is imperative to make Larry gregarious..." Thanks to his parents dying on him, he's moved in with his bizarre aunt and uncle in their plant-filled house on the outskirts of Chicago. ..".ulcer...ulcer...what word rhymes with ulcer..." Riley, his degenerate cousin, torments him daily, much like the "normal" kids at school. But Bart takes refuge in his poems; he just never finishes any of them. ..".Amber Tamblyn, Taryn Manning...Peyton's namesake choked up cheesecake..." Felix Fox, Bart's best friend and Bob Costas wannabe, implores Bart to finish a poem to Miss Rebeccah Flaggerty, their adorable sociology teacher at Briskie Sun. The plan is for Bart to read the poem in front of their class for his final exam before graduation, thereby proving himself a man to Miss F...and to himself. ..".a plaque, Felix...a plaque on both your houses...a plaque that reads: These Houses are Plagued..." Follow Bart (and the voice in his head) on a journey both comic and courageous through dysfunctional families, high school, and what passes for life.