Things get exciting for this class of 12 seventh graders when new girl Orchid Mason comes to town and seems super exotic and fascinating. She regales them with tales of living in various countries and states, and doing interesting things. No one knows why she would show up in Fawn Creek, or where she even lives, but they're all curious, for better or worse.Some of the kids embrace her, looking to her as an example of someone who "got out" and lived. She proves that it is possible to be more than just a kid from Fawn Creek. Other kids are jealous or dismissive, not impressed with her stories and annoyed that others are falling for her charm.The big question of the book is: Who is Orchid Mason? And that question is answered by the poem in the last chapter. But before Orchid breezes out of town again, she has also gotten the other kids to think about who they truly are, and they are better for having known her.