In a small seaside town during the summer before sixth grade, Indie Lee Chickory tries to follow her older sister's popularity advice by working backstage on the upcoming community theater musical and by not revealing that she is looking for her beloved pet lobster and becoming friends with "loser" Owen Stone.

Lucy Peevey, twelve, and her best friend, Cam, are perfecting the robot that could win a competition, a scholarship, and a way out of Sunnyside Trailer Park when Lucy's mother goes off her medication and her manic-depressive disorder goes out of control.