Caleb Franklin, 10, does not want to be ordinary despite his father’s insistence that they are just “ordinary folks” (3). He lives in Sutton, Indiana but has pictures of faraway places taped above his top bunk. His father calls him “extraordinary” when he recognizes a bit of classical music on TV, but the last thing Caleb wants is to be “extra-ordinary”—which (he thinks) means even more “plain and normal” than anyone else (5). On the Fourth of July, Dad takes Caleb, Caleb’s 11-year-old brother Bobby Gene, and their one-year-old sister Susie to the union hall picnic. Dad leaves the brothers in charge of Susie while he plays cards. Caleb and Bobby Gene discover Cory Cormier, a bully Bobby Gene’s age, soliciting offers for trading his giant gunnysack of fireworks. When Caleb and Bobby Gene arrive, Cory is saying no to every offer. Caleb is enamored with the position Cory has over the other kids: “I could practically taste the thrill of power” (7).

Bobby Gene lifts Susie high to sniff her diaper, and Cory thinks they are offering a trade. Cory won’t trade with anyone else, but he really wants a baby sister. He takes the deal immediately.