Homeroom Diaries

Margaret "Cuckoo" Clarke, a seventeen-year-old in North Plains, Oregon, opens her diary by revealing she recently completed a ten-day psychiatric observation at St. Augustine Community Hospital, which she calls "Crazytown." She was admitted after three months of uncontrollable crying triggered by her mother's sudden disappearance without explanation. Her best friend, Katie, staged an intervention with their friend group and contacted Child Protective Services, which placed Cuckoo with her neighbor, Mrs. Morris, an elderly foster mother who uses a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis. Cuckoo's doctor, Dr. Marcuse, has declared her "sound of mind," and she is now focused on getting happy.

At North Plains High School, Cuckoo belongs to a tight-knit group of outcasts called the Freakshow. Each member has adopted a deliberately insulting nickname to preempt bullying: Brainzilla (Katie), the top-ranked student determined to attend Yale and become the first in her family to go to college; Eggy (Hana), a girl of Asian descent who chose her name after racist taunts; Zitsy (Paul), an acne-covered boy; Tebow (Peter), a devout, handsome jock; and Flatso (Beverly), a physically powerful and kindhearted girl. The school is divided into hostile cliques Cuckoo calls "warring nations," and the Freakshow launches "Operation Happiness" to unite them.

Cuckoo regularly retreats into her imagination, holding fantasy conversations with characters like Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye and creating a romance with an invented younger brother of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. She obsessively rereads novels and writes alternate endings, expressing deep discomfort with finality. Vice Principal Mr. Tool requires her to see school psychologist Ms. Kellerman weekly. Ms. Kellerman is fixated on reading Cuckoo's diary, but Cuckoo refuses.

A young biology teacher, Winston "Winnie" Quinn, arrives and charms the class with his nervous awkwardness. Cuckoo initially mistakes him for a student. When she stays after class, she feels an unexpected attraction. The student newspaper reveals Winnie graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at sixteen and is only seventeen, complicating Cuckoo's feelings.

At home, Cuckoo and Mrs. Morris develop a warm bond through quiet routines. Mrs. Morris's daughter, Marjorie, lives in Los Angeles pursuing acting and repeatedly cancels visits. School tensions escalate: A cafeteria food fight erupts, someone mocks Tebow's faith with a crude crucifix in his locker, and Marty Bloom, a bully from a clique called the Haters, repeatedly targets the Freakshow. Tebow asks Cuckoo to a movie, and neither clarifies whether it is a date.

When Cuckoo returns home from the movie, she discovers Mrs. Morris has fallen from her wheelchair in the garage. Though Mrs. Morris is unharmed, Cuckoo cries uncontrollably, the incident triggering flashbacks to her mother's disappearance. Her mother, raised on a commune, has a pattern of vanishing during new relationships. Cuckoo's grandmother used to care for her during these absences but died two years ago. After a month alone without money, Cuckoo's hair began falling out before the Freakshow intervened.

Over Christmas, Mrs. Morris gives Cuckoo a battered copy of Emily Dickinson's collected poems with a handwritten inscription, and Cuckoo gives her a hand-drawn family portrait. During a New Year's Eve party at the country club where Cuckoo waitresses, Bloom asks her to dance. Seeing a softer side to him, Cuckoo accepts his offer of a ride home despite her friends' warnings. In his car, Bloom grabs her, forces a kiss, and reaches up her skirt. Cuckoo bites his hand to escape, and Brainzilla pulls her to safety.

That same night, Cuckoo arrives home to find Mrs. Morris unresponsive. She cannot find a pulse and calls 911. Mrs. Morris is dead. The Freakshow attends the funeral, where Cuckoo reads a short letter and Eggy plays "Amazing Grace" on trumpet. When a social worker informs Cuckoo she cannot live alone, she reveals that Marjorie has moved in. Marjorie proves unexpectedly capable and agrees to serve as Cuckoo's guardian.

Back at school, Bloom threatens Cuckoo not to tell anyone about New Year's Eve, and Brainzilla attacks him before being pulled away. When Bloom's girlfriend, Jenna McClue, hears a distorted rumor about Bloom and Brainzilla, she attacks Brainzilla in the cafeteria. Cuckoo knows the rumor stems from Bloom's assault on her but fails to speak up. Meanwhile, Brainzilla's informational interview with a Yale alumna goes well, and she invites the woman to friend her on Facebook.

The Haters, one of the school's bullying cliques, then hack the Freakshow's Facebook accounts, posting cruel fake updates targeting each member. The post on Brainzilla's page is sexually degrading, and the Yale alumna has already seen it. That night, Cuckoo learns Brainzilla has been hospitalized after a suicide attempt. She runs five miles through the streets at midnight until friends find her and drive her to the hospital. Marjorie comes to comfort Cuckoo, sharing memories of Mrs. Morris, and Cuckoo realizes Marjorie genuinely cares.

The next morning, Cuckoo finds Brainzilla pale but recovering. Brainzilla despairs over her ruined Yale prospects, and Cuckoo insists there are countless paths to a different life. The Freakshow gathers, and Zitsy gives Brainzilla a gold ring with a ruby he found in a clogged pipe, urging her to remember how much they care.

Back at school, Cuckoo breaks down crying in homeroom. Ms. Kellerman recommends readmission to the psychiatric ward. Cuckoo walks out, and a social worker returns her to St. Augustine, where Dr. Marcuse reassures her that sadness is not mental illness.

When Cuckoo and Brainzilla return, Mr. Tool bans their planned Rally for Reason, a schoolwide forum to address social divisions. The Freakshow pivots to the Scream Out, an off-campus open-mic gathering on the town green where students can voice their struggles. They organize the event in two days through social media and community connections. In the parking lot, Winnie confronts Bloom for tearing down flyers and mocking the group, declaring he would rather be like the Freakshow than a bully.

The Scream Out draws a massive crowd from every social group. Students take the microphone to share fears and pressures. Cuckoo delivers an unplanned speech, introducing herself as Margaret, recounting her losses, and insisting the school has more in common than it has dividing it. Bloom demands a turn, begins by saying he is sorry, then mocks the crowd. The audience boos him off the stage. Cuckoo has a revelation: She cannot change Bloom, just as she cannot change her mother. The only person she can change is herself.

The event produces real change at school, as teachers soften their approaches and Cuckoo reaches an understanding with Ms. Kellerman. On a second outing with Tebow, Cuckoo realizes she does not want to date him, because a breakup would mean losing a best friend. Marjorie sews Cuckoo a dress for prom, and the Freakshow attends together.

After prom, Cuckoo visits Mrs. Morris's grave and calls her "Mom" for the first time. Two days after school ends, Winnie appears at her door. He has taken a research job at Portland State and is no longer her teacher. He asks her to the movies, calling her beautiful. She closes her diary by noting she does not like endings and has more to share, signing off with "good-bye. For now."