Max Buras, age thirteen, is the quintessential middle child. With thick glasses and no physique worth mentioning, he's not as social or swoonworthy as his older sister; with good grades and no behavioral problems, he doesn't command the parental attention of his younger brother Gabe, whose refusal to speak has been variously diagnosed by an array of doctors and counselors. Then Max's distant ne'er-do-well relative, Dewey Tomlinson, blows into town. Following the cryptic advice of a phone-in psychic, 'Uncle' Dewey gloms on to Max as his ticket to a better life--that is, to better success as a gambler.
