Content Warning: This section contains discussions of ableism.

Twelve-year-old Emerson arrives at Camp Outlier, a summer camp that he does not want to attend. He’s accompanied by his mother, an anxious woman who seems relieved to have help with the care of her son for the next two and a half months. Camp Outlier bills itself as a place for kids with “reoccurring incidents of the strange kind” (20), or RISKs—unusual abilities akin to superpowers. These abilities are ranked on a five-point scale, with five being the most dangerous. Emerson is a level five floater, which means that without his weighted vest and iron shoes, he will float up into the sky and be unable to come back down. Keeping Emerson safe has done a number on his mother’s nerves.

Emerson meets Hank, a boy who turns invisible involuntarily, and discovers they’ve both been assigned to the Red Maple cabin. Another boy, Gary, uses his power to stick his hands to his father’s car, and removing him damages the car’s paint job. Like Emerson, Gary does not want to be at camp. Hank is more optimistic: there are girls at Camp Outlier. Emerson meets his counselor, Eli, whose body parts shape-shift without warning.