Ahab Goldstein is a seventh-grader living in an United States (specifically Maine) where the environment has turned toxic, and the corrupt Environmental Police Force is in control, limiting access to natural resources like gas and water, issuing fines, and transporting "fragile" species (pretty much all of them) to the Center for Species Rehabilitation in New Arcadia (a dubious refuge at best); so when Ahab and his friends find a real live bullfrog on an island in the toxic harbor, possibly the last one in America, they are faced with a choice--turn it over (NO!), leave it alone, or bike to Canada to find it a mate