On his 25-year journey from 9th grade hellion to gratified junior high teacher to crabby district administrator, Leo Haldini finds, loses and then seeks to regain his faith in education, providing us with a hard-headed, light-hearted look at the beauty and insanity of American schools. 1978: Leo, the new kid at Fernwater Junior High, falls in with a band of illiterate punks, armed with whiskey, matches and a blowgun. Against all odds, Leo grows a conscience, and discovers there is more to life than terrorizing Mr. Krabke, his delusionally optimistic history teacher. 1994: Returning to FJH to teach, Leo mentors whiz kids Gizmo and Anjuli, while motivating slackers who consider ipecac to be a recreational drug. He locks horns with Principal Krabke over issues of ethics and efficacy. Could life be more maddening and fulfilling? 2003: Leo is buried to his butt in testing data at the district office, a.k.a. Crazy Town, run by his nemesis Dr. Krabke. Anjuli and Gizmo call with A QUESTION that will transform their lives in unforeseen ways. For Leo, that means reassessing his own career: Stay? Go? Go where?