Eleven-year-old Frazzy is mostly coping with not quite fitting in at school, until all the good stuff in her life goes haywire.

Frazzy likes to chat her way through her school day, distracting her best friend Mel while secretly eyeing the boy she has a crush on — all without attracting any more attention from Jake the bully. When her teacher springs a yearlong assignment on her class called The Genius Hour Project, Frazzy sees it as her ticket to “normal-ville.” By choosing “the most boring topic ever,” she tries to please everyone except herself — with disastrous results. Meanwhile, Frazzy’s BFF might be moving to a different school, and Frazzy’s dad, just when she needs him most, disappears into a major depression.

How can Frazzy be true to her own quirky self and survive all the challenges that life is throwing at her? That’s the question at the heart of The Genius Hour Project.