New York Times best-selling author Michael Northrop captures the middle-school experience - from the hurt to the hope - in this powerful story of creativity in the face of cruelty.

If I did something risky now, something big - it's almost like it wouldn't even be my fault. Almost like it might even work.

Ked Eakins is about to lose everything. He's just discovered that his dad has gambled away their rent money. They're going to get kicked out of their home.

But Ked is determined to fight back. He hatches a plan to save their apartment by rebuilding a vintage minibike in his school's maker space, which he'll sell for a profit.

Still, the plan is a gamble of his own: Going to maker space forces Ked into the path of a school bully, who torments him about his progressive spinal condition.

Can Ked - with the help of some unlikely new friends - find a way to fix the bike and save his family from going under before it's too late?