Twelve-year-old Joshua is perpetually late and sent to a summer camp that specializes in treating tardiness. He encounters a whispering tree, ghosts, and a talking shadow. The camp isn’t what it appears to be. Neither is the book. Fantasy wears a disguise.

At first, the camp is all happy campers and fun activities. Not to last. Joshua’s cabinmates are obsessed with punctuality—the smiling-way-too-much kind of obsessed. It’s more than camp spirit. Joshua is bullied and shunned. Well, at least he’s got Abbey. Nobody messes with a miniature dachshund.

Joshua and his bunkmate, Mario (12), start hearing each other’s thoughts—they’re telepaths. Mario’s programming cracks. Quick-witted and loyal, he’s the friend Joshua’s never had. Late kids have dormant mental abilities that interfere with clocks and schedules. The camp isn’t fixing their problems; it’s waking them up.

Joshua meets Seber (12), a free-roaming shadow, who’s searching for a camper who disappeared. She’s fearless, exciting, and impossible to ignore. She also isn’t exactly human. So much for a first kiss.

Campers keep vanishing. One teleports into a tree. Another runs into a ghost operating an alien-looking device. Abbey knows more than she should.

Joshua decides to escape, but it would mean abandoning the friends who are counting on him. For the first time in his life, he has something worth staying for. Still, he’d really like to see his thirteenth birthday.