Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. Her father is obsessed with business, her mother is obsessed with meditation, her older sister Sara is always finding excuses not to work, and her older brother Holden is struggling with..."issues". And then there's Charlie; three years old, a "surprise baby", and the center of everything.
Everyday, Fern must struggle through the embarrassment of a commercial starring her family and her hectic family life with only her friend Ran at her side. Until one day, a tragedy occurs...
This book contains examples of:
- Catchphrase: "See you at Harry's!" for Charlie. After Charlie's death, Fern laments about how it feels like a lie.
- Censored Child Death: It's only when Sara allows Fern to cry into her chest that the reader learns that Charlie didn't make it.
- Cry into Chest: Fern does this to Sara after learning that Charlie didn't survive.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Charlie has this. However, he always makes sure to say Fern's name correctly.
- Hope Spot: It turns out Charlie didn't get hit by a car and he will live. However, he dies the next morning due to a blood clot in his brain that he received when he fell and hit his head on the pavement.
- May–December Romance: Downplayed; Holden is fourteen, and his boyfriend Gray is seventeen. His father disapproves of their relationship because of this age gap.
- Middle Child Syndrome: A variant where there are two older siblings: Fern's main struggle for the first half of the book is being glossed over in favor of raising business, meditation, and other...more sensitive issues.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Ran's full first name is Random.
- Posthumous Character: Fern's grandparents died before she was born.
- Sick Episode: The story begins with Fern recounting the time her mother read her Charlotte's Web when she was sick.
- Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: Ran was an ill boy when he was younger, but when the book takes place, he had recovered fully.
- Shout-Out:
- Holden was named after the main protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye.
- Fern was named after the human protagonist of Charlotte's Web.
- Charlie was named after the eponymous protagonist of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- When Fern wants to help Holden with a date, she jokingly calls him "Cinderholden".
- Spell My Name With An S: Sara, not Sarah.
- Two Girls and a Guy: Fern, Cassie, and Ran.
