When the cops show up at Jesse’s house and arrest her dad, she figures out in a hurry that he’s the #1 suspect in the missing library fund money case. With the help of her (first and only) friend Springer, she rounds up suspects (leading to a nasty confrontation with three notorious school bullies) and asks a lot of questions. But she can’t shake the feeling that she isn’t exactly cut out for being a crime-solving hero. Jesse has a neuro-processing disorder, which means that she’s “on the spectrum or whatever.” As she explains it, “I get stuck on lots of stuff, like words and phrases and numbers and smells and pictures and song lines and what time stuff is supposed to happen.” But when a tornado strikes her small town, Jesse is given the opportunity to show what she's really made of—and help her dad.
This book contains examples of:
- Anachronic Order: The story switches between two plot lines; Jesse and Springer investigating the missing library fund, and the tornado and the aftermath during the next week.
- Brutal Honesty: As Jesse's dad says, Jesse is "honest to a fault".
- Commonality Connection: Jesse and Springer bond over not liking having to wear uncomfortable clothing that their parents want them to wear; bras for Jesse, and athletic cups for Springer.
- Cone of Shame: After Aunt Gus's dog, Charlie, gets one of his legs broken in the tornado, he has to wear one of these so he won't chew his cast off.
- Dead Guy Junior: Jesse was named after her mother's brother, who was killed in a car accident when he was seventeen.
- Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Averted; When the cops are arresting Derrik, he tells Aunt Gus to call Stan, one of his friends who happens to be a lawyer, so he can have legal representation. Stan is able to help Derrik get out of jail on bail in a little less than 24 hours.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Derrik labeled the drawer he kept the library funds in as "Library Fund Donations", and also didn't leave the door or the desk locked when he was out of his classroom. Everybody In-Universe points out how dumb this was.
