Caroline is 13, and she lives with her father outside of Portland, Oregon. But, instead of living in a house and going to school, the two live as recluses in Forest Park in a cave. Each week, they return to the city for supplies, but otherwise, they grow food and scavenge. One day, someone discovers the camp and reports them to the authorities, and Caroline and her father are separated.
Caroline meets Miss Jean Bauer who tests her academic training, and she discovers that Caroline is quite above average in most subjects, but in other regards, Bauer finds Caroline to be under-prepared for life. Instead of separating them again, Bauer teams up with her colleagues to find Caroline and her father a new home in an old house on a farm.
Unfortunately, the farm is not a healthy place for Caroline's father, a military combat veteran with PTSD. He becomes paranoid and delusional, convinced that they are being watched. Eventually, his paranoid reaches a head and the two evacuate the farm. They live among Portland's homeless population for a while, but after several weeks, they leave to Sisters, Oregon, but Caroline ends up separated from her father. Caroline is alone, homeless, and she's fighting hypothermia and frostbite. She travels to Idaho to find her childhood home. She recounts the day her father showed up out of nowhere to explain that she didn't really belong to her family; the man then abducted her from the home. Caroline stumbles upon her own sister, and she stares for a while to see how she feels, but she can't find any reason to contact her, so she keeps on.
Caroline returns to Oregon and finishes her high school diploma, easily. She finds part-time work and reminisces about her wild life with her father in the Forest Park caves. She begins to watch young girls, seeking one who looks like she might want to leave society alongside Caroline.
