Hugo is not happy about being dragged halfway across the state of Colorado just because his dad had a midlife crisis and decided to become a ski instructor. It's be different if Hugo wasn't so tiny: if girls didn't think he was adorable, like a puppy in a purse, and guys didn't call him "leprechaun"--or worse. The bullying was bad enough at his old school. Hugo hopes it won't be worse at his new one. At least he has his cousin Vijay to show him the ropes. Vij is effortlessly cool something Hugo only dreams of being. But then the other students discover Hugo's remarkable talent for garbology, the science of studying a person's trash to uncover their deepest wishes and secrets. Suddenly, he is the cool kid for the first time in his life. But what happens when it all goes to his head?