Fifth grade for Ben Turner was supposed to start off like any other year at Riverside Elementary School. But with a puzzling scandal, a mysterious new principal who no one has ever seen, and robots that look an awful lot like people, Ben soon discovers that this is a year like no other. His rule-bending teacher, Ms. B., has done what she can to protect the students from absurd rules and too much testing, but she goes too far. Something sinister is happening, and now it's up to Ben and his friends, Ellie and Nate, to put the clues together to find out what's really going on at Riverside before it's too late.

Will the trio be able to unravel the mysteries surrounding all the changes at school before time runs out? Or will they have to find out what it means to be shipshape?