In the story, Brian struggles with focusing in school, particularly social studies. He's quite apathetic towards the subject of citizenship being taught by Ms. Libby Bell. Fortunately, his secret friend, Burt the gnome, helps him understand by taking him into the gnome world, Gnomeville. He learns about the meaning and importance of citizenship, including voting, jury duty, and running for office, from the gnomes through interactive and fun methods. This enlightening experience motivates him to become more involved in school, specifically deciding to run for class president.
The story is made up of 1,126 words. Some potentially difficult words for early readers might include: citizenship, jury duty, political office, election, president, allegiance, republic, invisible, and courtroom. The story teaches students about civic themes, such as: citizenship, political office, the political process, the role of a citizen, and duties such as elections, voting, and jury duty.