Except for one rare and very puzzling quality, Hooper Toote was not unlike any other boy in East Westham. The thing that set him apart, and in some cases above, was the fact that he skimmed — his feet never touched the ground! It was a *puzzle*, but not a *problem*. Not only was Hooper easy on shoe leather, but he was an absolute whiz at just getting around in general. Occasionally Hooper's skimming did get out of hand and he would rise up in the air, floating happily there for a while over the heads of his classmates. It wasn't until the Tootes moved to New York City that the *puzzle* became a *problem*. "Human Fly" was an early headline. But as a result Hooper met an inventor named Professor Smith, a boy named Blue, and skimmed his way through one adventure after another — from the histories of H. G. Wells, to the circus, to NASA. He also began to understand and perhaps solve the puzzle of himself, gaining new awareness of the world and his future in it.