Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying and ableism.

An unnamed narrator guides the reader in an exercise, telling the reader to reach over their head with their right arm to touch their left ear. The narrator then informs the reader that Georgie cannot do this and that they just want the reader to know.

Georgie, whose full name is George Washington Bishop, sits in his fourth-grade class, with his bully, Jeanette Ann Wallace, or “Jeanie the Meanie,” sitting behind him. Jeanie has always given Georgie a hard time about his short stature or big head. She’s bullied him since kindergarten. One of the ways she bugs him is by tapping on his shoulder with her pencil throughout the class. Georgie tries to ignore her. It’s the last day before Christmas break, and he just wants to get through class.

Several seats in front of Georgie, his best friend, Andy Moretti, drops his pencil. He taps it on the ground twice—a signal. Georgie volunteers to solve the problem on the board. He must raise his hand extra high so that the teacher will notice him. There is a stool in front of the board just for him.