Sam Manning is uprooted from North Carolina to New Jersey and is forced to attend Pencey Prep Academy, the best academic school in the state. Fitting in is not the only issue Sam has to deal with in her new school, as a war is raging between the Jocks and the Misfits, a group of isolated troubled teenagers who Sam can relate to. But she wants to avoid a war as well as avoid getting too close to anyone when she meets someone she can't take her eyes off.