Charlemagne “Charlie” Reese sits in her new fifth-grade class trying to complete the “Getting to Know You” (3) activity assigned by her new teacher Mrs. Willibey. She corrects her name and lists her favorite activities as “soccer, ballet, and fighting” (4). She describes her family as “bad” (4) and says she doesn’t have a favorite school subject. Because Charlie’s mother has depression and her father, nicknamed “Scrappy,” is in prison for fighting, social services sent Charlie to stay with her maternal aunt Bertha and uncle Gus in Colby, North Carolina. Charlie misses her life back in Raleigh, especially her best friend Alvina, who warned her about “hillbilly kids” (3) who eat squirrels and don’t have paved roads. Since Charlie’s older sister Jackie will graduate soon, she is allowed to remain in Raleigh and lives with a friend named Carol Lee.

Charlie’s teacher frowns at her answers to the questionnaire. Charlie makes a wish every day at 11:11, but this time, a red-haired boy with a limp distracts her. Mrs. Willibey assigns the same boy, Howard Odom, to be Charlie’s buddy for the day to help her get acclimated to her new environment.