There are worse things in the world than being adopted. But right now Joseph can't think of one.

Joseph Calderaro has a serious problem. His social studies teacher has given him an impossible assignment: an essay about ancestors. Ancestors, as in dead people you're related to.

Joseph was adopted, but the only sure thing he knows about his birth family is that they shipped his diapered butt on a plane from Korea and he landed in New Jersey. How do you write about a family you've never known and at the same time manage all the other hassles that middle school mixes in the pot? What Joseph writes leads to a catastrophe messier than a table of shattered dishes—and self-discovery that will change his life recipe forever. . . .