When his arch-nemesis Vex comes after him through his minions nFinity, Grifter, and Lunk, Joshua Dread's parents send him and his friends to safety at Alabaster Academy – or so they think. Joshua and two of his friends, Sophie and Miranda, are Gyfted. Joshua has an ability to control electricity; Sophie has superhuman strength that makes her glow when she uses it; and Miranda has a sense of intuition that's somewhat more than uncanny. Their fourth friend, Milton, has no Gyft, but gets along pretty well with them – and has helped them in the past, when Vex was after them before. They are enjoying the last lazy days of summer when they are attacked in the mall cafeteria by nFinity (gyfted with fire), Lunk (gyfted with hulk when he so desires, unless melted down to his skinny usual self with water), and Grifter (gyfted with telekenesis, dependent on visual line of sight to her target). Their job is to capture Joshua. The four friends make a narrow escape, though afterwards, Joshua picks up a paper their enemies dropped behind them with four items listed on it. The last is the dominion key. None sound familiar.
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The four go home and tell their parents, who naturally want to bring their children to safety. They agree to send the four to Alabaster Academy, a private school for gyfted youth on an island off Massachussets. Sophie's father and his girlfriend are world famous superheroes, and use their resources to get them admitted and to the island safely. Even Milton, who has no gyft, is admitted.
During their first week, the four friends adjust. Their high-grade weaponry class with Dr. Nigel Fleming is particularly interesting, though Sophie and Miranda do somewhat better than Joshua and Milton. Dr. Fleming's most notable weapon is a duck that can fly, walk, or swim, and drops egg bombs. Its name is Daisy. Dodgeball during PE class brings an opportunity to show the class bully, Winston (a werewolf), their worth – and that he'd better not mess with them. And they become fast friends with Principal Alabaster's daughter Cassie (able to turn herself into silvery smoke and back), who has lived her entire life on the dreary, rainy island and is itching to travel elsewhere. (As for Principal Alabaster's skill? He opens and closes portals to places he has been.) The four keep an eye on the news also, however, and see that each night, an item off Joshua's list is being stolen. After three nights, the only item left is the dominion key. Once they discover that the creator of the dominion key is Dr. Fleming himself, off they go to find Dr. Fleming – with Cassie now in tow as well. She is a valuable addition with her knowledge of Alabaster's secret passageways.
Nfinity, Grifter, and Lunk, in addition to a bunch of cyclaurs (centaur-like cyborgs with motocycles where the horse body would otherwise be) are already attacking Alabaster when Dr. Fleming guides them back towards Daisy. Daisy will take them to a log cabin which contains the dominion key, which must be destroyed. On the way, Dr. Fleming is injured in a run-in with Winston. The five barely get past Lunk and Grifter and take off on Daisy. Miranda falls into the water, and they must go on without her. Daisy is damaged, and the remaining four barely make it to shore. Sophie guides them to her godparents – a pair of famous retired superheroes who provide them with their retired but repaired MarvelousMobile.
They make it to the log cabin, only to find Dr. Fleming already there and better, thanks to Alabaster's school nurse (whose gyft is, of course, healing). But he in fact is not what he seemed before. Dr. Fleming has realized that Joshua himself is the dominion key; Joshua can, through powerful enough use of his gyft, stop time and space, and Vex, together with the other items his minions have stolen, wants to use him to take over the world. Dr. Fleming wishes to trade Joshua to Vex for his own personal gain. Vex's minions, followed by Vex himself, are closing in on the cabin. Everything is much more under control, however, than Joshua could ever have imagined; reinforcements are on the way. First his parents show up. Then Miranda leads in an army of Alabaster students and teachers, using her gyft to guide them. Vex's minions are quickly taken care of. As for Vex? Principal Alabaster opens a portal to Antarctica, and when Vex decides to vex Joshua a little too much, Joshua is able to summon his time-stopping ability and a powerful beam of electricity, pushing Vex through through the portal to Antarctica. Joshua is safe for now – though Vex will probably come back.
Miranda returns to Alabaster with Cassie and the rest of the students and faculty; it will provide her with the stability and training she needs. As it is no longer safe for Joshua, however, he, Milton, and Sophie return to their respective parents. Joshua's parents are considering homeschooling – but the results of that experiment will have to wait for another book.
Best part of story, including ending:
The book is very fast-paced, and the chapters are relatively short. There is a greater focus on action than on description, though the key point of the action in various scenes is often held back to generate suspense. For some this may render it more exciting; for me it just meant during some scenes, I knew what was happening before the author decided to get around to saying it.
Best scene in story:
I like the scene when Dr. Fleming shows the students his duck. Having a metal duck machine as a weapon and transportation device is totally random and somewhat amusing - except for the part about it actually being a weapon.
Opinion about the main character:
Joshua is growing stronger with his ability, though he's not yet as powerful as he could be. He also is loyal to his friends.
