Facing financial disaster, Frankie tries to save her job by organizing a publicity stunt involving a car filled with jelly beans; Sue fails swim team tryouts, and then learns she needs glasses; and when Brick can't check books out of the library because Frankie can't pay a $200 library fine, he starts reading his mother's steamy romance novels.

Meek daughter Sue finally succeeds in doing something right by selling thousands of dollars' worth of sausage and cheese samples for the school, which makes her eligible to travel to the state capitol. But when the school fails to recognize her achievement, Frankie urges her daughter to fight for her right to collect her well-deserved prize. Meanwhile, Brick discovers that love isn't all it's cracked up to be when his first girlfriend proves to be a bit on the bossy side.