1. Jeremy 12 years old, one month until his 13th birthday. Quiet, quirky, scientific. Collects mutant pieces of candy. His dad died when he was eight.
2. Lizzie Jeremy’s best friend. Notorious trouble maker, brave, adventurous, impulsive. Collects discarded playing cards striving to one day complete a full deck. Lives next door to Jeremy with her dad.
3. One day, a month before his 13th birthday, Jeremy receives a mysterious keyless locked wooden box. Engraved with the words The Meaning Of Life: For Jeremy Fink to open on his thirteenth birthday. The box was from his dad.
4. Not wanting to destroy the box so carefully made by his father, Jeremy and Lizzie take off on a whirlwind urban adventure to find the missing keys.
5. Do Lizzie and Jeremy find the keys to uncover the meaning of life