After being raised by her grandparents for 12 years, everything changes for Missy Lou Button the day she turns thirteen. It is her first birthday without her beloved grandpa. Now, Missy Lou and her grandma Sweet Betty Sue struggle to live without him. But Missy Lou's thirteenth year brings unexpected adventures with her best friend, C.E. Zog, who secretly wishes he was Superman. All Missy Lou wants to do is protect him from the bullies at school, read comics, fish at the creek, find out more about her mother, and try to forget that her father abandoned her when she was a little girl. While she struggles to come to terms with the information she finds out about her life, she saves a puppy from a storm, realizes what it truly means to be a hero, and finally understands that she will always have her grandpa in her heart.