It's the end of summer, and for incoming sixth grader Nathan, his life couldn't be more pathetic that it already is. For one thing, the name of his new teacher, Mrs. Swindle, sounds ominous enough; then there's the fact that he would be sitting close to the official school bully while his two closest friends are going to be in the other class. To top it all, we would be consigned to wearing those despicable clothes from the thrift store-again. It is not like Nathan doesn't understand how most families in their community-including his own-are suffering from the economic downturn. It's just the harsh realities of his young life are getting into him and he couldn't do anything about it. Well, it appears to be so, until a strange man gives Nathan a box of fortune cookies one day. When Nathan discovers that the fortune cookies are way more than they seem, her realizes, ironically, that the opposite side of the fence could also be a daunting proposition in life.