Leonard Neeble says, "I used to spend time trying to pick the one who would be the lowest person in school if I dropped dead." Characters who sit around only feeling sorry for themselves are usually not much fun to read about, but Leonard has a mordant sense of humor about himself and his experiences that makes him interesting. Fortunately for Leonard, Pinkwater quickly introduces Alan Mendelsohn, the one kid in school willing to be Neeble's friend. Leonard, with Alan as an influence, soon learns about tripping people, distracting onlookers, and avoiding being bored to death in class. The two become united battlers against hypocrisy, stupidity, and dullness, and as they develop they become increasingly able to distinguish between appearances and underlying reality.

"I am a short, portly kid, and I wear glasses," notes Neeble, who prefers "portly" to such terms as "fat boy...