Ruby wants first prize at the fifth grade science fair-and she thinks her quirky, creative, Rube Goldberg-esque invention is just the way to get it!

Ten-year-old Ruby Goldberg is determined to win her school science fair and beat her nemesis Dominic Robinson. She's snagged second place for the last two years, and she's set on claiming first prize. The only trouble is that Ruby has no ideas. When her grandfather's beloved basset hound dies, Ruby thinks of the perfect thing that will cheer him up and win her first place-an innovative, state-of-the-art, not-to-be-duplicated Ruby Goldberg invention!

Before long Ruby is so busy working on her idea that she ignores everything else in her life, including her best friend, Penny. And what started out as simple turns into something much more complicated! Can Ruby get her priorities-and the mechanisms of her project-in order before it's too late?