It's Joe Connolly's first day at secondary school and everything is going wrong. How do you survive the worst first day ever without your best friend by your side?

When an adrenaline-fueled game of dares gets out of hand, Joe accidentally throws a ball at a teacher and now he's in big, big trouble.

It is Joe Connolly's 12th birthday and he can't wait for everyone at school to know, until he learns about the school tradition of birthday beats.