Northern Virginia, 2001. Just as he is about to enter eighth-grade, Andy Blaine, a shy, disenchanted introvert with a perchance for writing, Dune, and Catholic guilt, is horrified to discover he has hookworms, which he regards as a shameful secret he cannot share with his family, especially older sister Odette, the private school lacrosse star whose shadow he struggles to escape. While the family is challenged by much more devastating developments,...