Anyone who moved in middle school will sympathize with Amelia Gray. She and her dad have moved over 30 times. But instead of dreading the moves, she looks forward to them. When they arrive in Somerville NY, and she learns her dad plans to stay for the summer, she is not okay with the plan. She wants to move on. But during the course of the summer, she tries new identities as a way to temporarily make friends. And she manages to make a mess of things when she doesn’t tell the truth about what she’s up to. The identities and her new friends clash over the dispute about the old town theater being torn down and a new one being built by the parents of yet another sort-of friend, Finn, who’s also new in town. The underlying reason that her dad return to Somerville NY is because Amelia’s mom, who died in childbirth, once lived there. When her dad’s work project doesn’t proceed as planned and he decides to leave town a little earlier than planned, Amelia realizes she might want to stay. The parallel plot in the book centers on Biscotti, Amelia’s dog, and her quest to identify which mix of breeds he might be.

In the end, Amelia gets what she needs, which is to settle down and make friends and not worry about what her one thing, expertise and passion, in life might be.

Readers will identify with the strong characterization in the book, such as how Amelia and her dad bond over hotel food and YouTube videos and how dad drives an electric car.