这部中年级小说以交替的视角讲述了最好的朋友罗尼和乔的故事，讲述了焦虑、陷入困境以及学会接受帮助–即使你不知道如何开口。
八百七十八美元。这是罗尼在1月4日之前需要的金额，以保证他家唯一的汽车不被收回。自从他父亲因工伤致残，全家被迫从家里搬到街对面的公寓楼后，罗尼一直在学习各种知识–比如标有最终通知的字母是什么意思，以及银行可以因拖欠付款而收回汽车。
他最好的朋友约瑟芬娜-拉莫斯也在倒计时，直到一月份开始，她的生活可能永远改变–那是她在著名的音乐学院枫树山举行大提琴面试的时候。只是她不能在不发生灾难性事件的情况下进行独奏表演，而且当她谈到自己有多紧张时，似乎没有人听得见她的话。
随着新年倒计时的到来，罗尼和乔了解到最好的计划会发生什么，以及当事情变得棘手时如何相互依赖和他们的社区。
Told in alternating points of view, this middle grade novel, following best friends Ronny and Jo, is about anxiety, being in over your head, and learning to accept help–even if you don’t know how to ask
Eight hundred seventy-eight dollars. That’s how much Ronny needs by January 4th to make to keep his family’s only car from getting repossessed. Since a workplace injury disabled his dad and forced the family to move from their home into the apartment complex across the street, Ronny’s been learning all sorts of things–like what letters marked with Final Notice means and that banks can take cars away for being behind on payments.
His best friend Josefina Ramos is also counting down until the start of January when her life could change forever–that’s when she has her big cello audition at the prestigious music academy Maple Hill. Except she can’t play a solo performance without something disastrous happening and no one seems to hear her when she talks about how nervous she is.
As the countdown to the new year rolls ahead, Ronny and Jo learn what can happen to best-laid plans and how to depend on one another and their community when things get tough.
