Salubrity, KS, is a small city known for two things: political correctness, and diseases. The people hate tradition, and holidays are celebrated nervously, if not completely turned backwards. And the persistent diseases led to rugged immune systems, which led to a high elder population. Don't call them "old" or "elders" or "folks" or even refer to their age at all. They may get offended, and that's the last thing you want in this place. 9-year-old Cory Hawk, his brother Justin, and his parents, lived in Tulsa, until a tornado tore through their house. They were forced to move to Salubrity, and in with their grandparents. Cory has always been a problem at school, but he has an especially hard time adjusting to the new one. He loves animals - all he wants to do when he grows up is get a job that involves them, but he doesn’t see the point of learning multiplication to do it. One day, the diseases in the town start to behave strangely: the people who catch them gain super powers. The majority are oddball, uncontrollable, and temporary. Scientists and doctors scramble to develop cures. Cory manages to catch - and keep - a power which lets him transform into any living thing. It's his wildest dream come true. Predictably, Cory and just about everyone else - from the schools to the businesses to the courthouses to the hospitals - abuse their powers. Villains and heroes rise, and the nation looks on as they wrestle for power. The town will never be the same.