The story begins in a New York City apartment building, where a disappointed Gregor must stay home from summer camp, even though his younger sister, Lizzie, gets to go. Gregor must stay home with his other sister, Margaret, who goes by the name Boots, and his grandmother because there’s no one else who can take care of them. His mother feels bad, but Gregor tells her: “‘That’s okay, Mom. Camp’s for kids anyway.’ He shrugged to show that, at eleven, he was past caring about things like camp, but somehow that made her look sadder” (3). Three years ago, Gregor would have been able to go to camp with Lizzie, but that was before his father mysteriously disappeared. 

It’s a normal day—Lizzie’s first day of camp—Lizzie leaves, and it’s just Boots, Gregor and their Grandmother left in the apartment. Gregor gets his grandmother her favorite drink: a root beer: “She laughed: ‘A root beer? What is it, my birthday?’” (5). Their grandmother is lucid sometimes, but not all the time. At four o’clock, the doorbell rings, and a woman named Mrs. Cormaci arrives. She tells Gregor that she promised his mother she’d sit with their grandma.