A cockroach wakes up one morning and discovers that he has turned into a
boy.
Shoebag likes his life as a cockroach. Like the others in his "tribe,"
he was named for the place of his birth - in his case, a white summer
sandal. He enjoys living in a Boston apartment building with his
parents, Drainboard and Under The Toaster, although they've lost
countless relatives to jumping spiders, water bugs, beetles, and the
deadly fumes of the dreaded exterminator. So when Shoebag discovers that
he's been transformed into a person, he's horrified. But the worst is
yet to come. Shoebag is adopted by the Biddle family and renamed Stu
Bagg. Mr. Biddle enrolls him in Beacon Hill Elementary School, and every
night for one hour before bedtime, he watches television with Eunice
"Pretty Soft" Biddle, his new seven-year-old sister, who loves the color
pink and is the star of toilet paper commercials. At school, Shoebag
tries to fit in as a human, while back home he tries to protect his
insect family from spiders, cats, and the Zapman. Then Shoebag discovers
a secret formula that could change him back into a roach. All he has to
do is choose.