Es el año 1967, y todo el mundo tiene cosas más importantes de qué preocuparse. Por un lado, está Vietnam, y por otro está el negocio familiar. Según el padre de Holling, nada es más importante que el negocio familiar. De hecho, todos los Hoodhood tienen que comportarse siempre lo mejor posible: el éxito de Hoodhood y Asociados depende de ello. ¿Pero cómo puede Holling evitar los problemas si tiene que lidiar con la señora Baker? Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn’t happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Throughout the school year, Holling strives to get a handle on the Shakespeare plays Mrs. Baker assigns him to read on his own time, and to figure out the enigmatic Mrs. Baker. At home, Holling’s domineering father is obsessed with his business image and disregards his family. As the Vietnam War turns lives upside down, Holling comes to admire and respect both Shakespeare and Mrs. Baker, who have more to offer him than he imagined. And when his family is on the verge of coming apart, he also discovers his loyalty to his sister, and his ability to stand up to his father when it matters most. Each month in Holling’s tumultuous seventh-grade year is a chapter in this quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in suburban Long Island during the late ‘60s.