"Remarkable," by Lizzie K. Foley In the town of Remarkable, the setting of Lizzie K. Foley's first novel, all the remarkable women are strange, all the remarkable men are odd-looking and all the remarkable children attend the School for the Remarkably Gifted. Then there is Jane Doe, "a very unremarkable girl, 10 years old, of medium height, with eyes of no particular color, and hair that was not quite brown enough to be called mousy." Jane's mother, Angelina Mona Linda Doe, a famous architect, and her father, Anderson Brigby Bright Doe II, a prizewinning novelist, barely notice her. Her prodigiously artistic brother, Anderson Brigby Bright Doe III, and her mathematically brilliant sister, Penelope Hope Adelaide Catalina Doe, outshine her. Jane is also ignored at the local regular public school, where her teachers forget about their sole fifth grader. The only person who pays her any attention is the town's other outlier: Jane's grandfather - named John, naturally - who is so unremarkable nobody even recognizes him, though he at least has the distinction of being married to Remarkable's mayor, Julietta Augustina Doe. Decades earlier, Julietta Augustina had been thrilled to meet someone who - unlike the rest of her constituents - wasn't trying to impress her with his remarkableness. Foley, who describes herself as the dorky sister in a family rich in brains and beauty, has found a clever conceit in the cultural obsession with above-­averageness. But her readers, ages 8 to 12, will thank her for not straining to impress with an ambitious satire of the smugly brilliant. Nor does she aspire to heavy moralizing about the virtues of ordinariness. Instead, she sets herself the more modest goal of showing how even a self-­proclaimed former nobody can dream up a lot of outlandish entertainment. Promoted as a "page-turning mystery," "Remarkable" skips tautly plotted suspense in favor of a cascade of intrigues that suggest a broad theme: Gifts get labeled eagerly and early on, but it's more fun if characters can elude expectations. In that spirit, Jane's life as invisible bystander is about to change. As commotion engulfs the town, she discovers new daring, while still retaining her self-­deprecating equanimity. At the center of the excitement are the remarkably wicked Grimlet twins, who finally achieve their aim of being expelled from the School for the Remarkably Gifted - not so easy, one of them sighs, because "the gifted teachers know we're just trying to develop our talents for rule-­breaking, so they encourage us to try harder." Jane is thrilled to have classmates at last, and these devils obviously have a plot up their sleeves. It gradually becomes clear that Jane's teacher - dull until now - has repressed gifts in need of release too. That's merely the start. There is also an influx of pirates, whose various stories have something fishy about them. Meanwhile, a world-renowned composer has gone missing just when he is supposed to arrive for the unveiling of a bell tower in Remarkable that will play his music. It turns out he's hiding in plain (actually, quite peculiar) sight as he attempts a new career. Jane's artistic brother, however, fails in his efforts to branch out. He tries to serenade a musical girl he adores, only to discover that just because he can paint doesn't mean he can carry a tune. And down at Lake Remarkable, Lucky, a secretive serpent, is stirring in response to a newfound passion. Jane finds herself playing a mostly unwitting role in the denouement of the many dramas. She doesn't mind that she gets no credit, as usual, because she ends up with just what she's always wanted. A hint: It's not in the least remarkable. Ann Hulbert, the author of "Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children," is writing a book about child prodigies.