The Season of Styx Malone

The Season of Styx Malone (2018) is a contemporary realistic middle grade novel written by Kekla Magoon. Caleb Franklin, 10, seeks a summer of unique adventures to prove he is the opposite of ordinary, despite his father’s insistence that Caleb and his brother Bobby Gene never stray beyond the town limits. Then Caleb meets Styx Malone, a cool, daring 16-year-old boy in the foster care system who shows the Franklin brothers a quick way to achieve the freedom and distinctiveness Caleb seeks—if only they can believe him. Built on themes of trust, dreams, and recognizing the worth in what you have, the 2018 novel is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and the winner of the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Fiction.

This guide references the 2018 edition by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Plot Summary

Caleb Franklin is a 10-year-old Black boy who lives in the sleepy town of Sutton, Indiana. The novel opens on the Fourth of July with Caleb full of longing. He wants to be unique and exceptional, though he is not certain in what way, or how to get there. His father hails the importance of an ordinary family, and actively prevents Caleb and his 11-year-old brother Bobby Gene from venturing outside Sutton because of potential dangers. This includes preventing Caleb and Bobby Gene from attending school field trips to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Dad must really love ordinary, because when Caleb accomplishes a neat trick like recognizing a piece of classical music from a jingle on TV, all Dad can say is that Caleb is “extra-ordinary.” The last thing Caleb wants is to be even more ordinary than the other family members, so he is ready and eager for anything that will set him apart during the rest of the summer.

Mom works afternoon shift at the hospital on Independence Day, so Dad takes Caleb, Bobby Gene, and one-year-old sister Susie to the union hall. The boys tend to Susie so Dad can play cards. They see local bully Cory Cormier in the center of a crowd of kids. Cory is considering trades for an enormous bag of fireworks. Caleb admires the power Cory has over the gathered kids offering trades. When Bobby Gene lifts Susie up to sniff her diaper, Cory thinks they are offering her in trade. He loves babies, so he agrees. Dad is so preoccupied that he doesn’t notice the boys carrying home a sack of fireworks instead of Susie, but Mom notices the empty crib right away when she gets home. The boys give up Cory Cormier, but they keep the fireworks a secret and hide them. At Cory’s house, Caleb, Bobby Gene, and Cory get a lecture from both of their mothers and punishment: an extra daily hour of chores for four weeks.

Cory comes to the Franklin house the next day. Before he arrives, Caleb and Bobby Gene run the fireworks into the woods behind their house, intending to hide them from Cory and say they were confiscated by their parents. They run into 16-year-old Styx Malone, a Black teenage boy who lives nearby as a foster child. Initially Styx is wary of the brothers, but soon he warms up and offers to deal with the fireworks. Caleb convinces Styx that whatever the take is, it should be split three ways. Styx agrees and they part ways.

Cory comes over for chores. Cory, Caleb, and Bobby Gene weed the garden; the air is tense until Caleb falls into the tomato cages. Then they all laugh; it is apparent they will be friends, though Cory wants his fireworks back. Styx arrives and as mediator, he convinces Cory that being rid of the illegal fireworks and making $50 on the deal is a great solution. Cory agrees. After Cory goes home, Styx explains that he intends to pull a Great Escalator Trade in which he will orchestrate a series of trades until they end up with something much better than the fireworks: a moped, slightly used, in the hardware store window. Styx takes them to see it, even though Caleb and Bobby Gene are not allowed to walk into town without permission. They are hooked by the sight of the bright green moped, nicknaming it the Grasshopper; Caleb especially craves the freedom and travels the moped represents.

Mom is suspicious of Styx as a new friend for the boys because he is older. Bobby Gene and Caleb argue over giving Styx their saved piggy bank cash; Caleb wants to but Bobby Gene refuses. Styx takes the boys to a man named Robo who keeps a junkyard. Styx collects a wagonful of used car parts and a rusty metal lunchbox in exchange for the fireworks. He then takes the boys to a farm where the owner, Mr. Maddox, takes the car parts in exchange for a riding lawn mower that has a broken engine. Styx says he knows where and how to get an engine, and once fixed, the riding mower will be a valuable trade toward the moped. Meanwhile, Styx meets Mom and Dad and comes to dinner. The next day, Caleb and Bobby go to Styx’s house and meet a young white girl, Penny, who also fosters there. She is curious, outspoken, and goes by the name Pixie. Styx and the boys visit the hardware store where Mr. Davis says he bought the moped for his son, but his son wanted a Harley-Davidson motorcycle instead, and got himself one.

When it is time to get the motor, Styx takes the boys onto a train boxcar. They travel for an hour before jumping off. He takes them to a house with junkpiles outside. He leaves a metal lunchbox and takes a motor, but the man who lives there, Mr. Pike, recognizes Styx and starts yelling at them. Caleb and Bobby Gene are afraid and worried on the train ride back. Once home, Caleb sides with Styx again and wants to proceed in getting the moped. Bobby Gene wants out but lets Caleb talk him into sticking to the deal. Bobby calls the number for Pike’s to see about making up for the theft but hangs up when Mr. Pike answers. Caleb confronts Styx, but Styx convinces the boys that it was not like stealing. Caleb says he knows a way to complete the trades, inspired by Cory Cormier’s mention of his uncle who loves Harley-Davidson. They fix the mower, take it to Cory’s uncle’s house, and trade the mower for two bags of Harley-Davidson memorabilia. They plan to try to trade for the moped the next day.

At home, however, Mr. Pike shows up and tells Mom and Dad what the boys did. They are immediately grounded. Caleb sneaks out, and Bobby Gene follows, to follow through with the trade for the moped. Caleb convinces Mr. Davis that giving the Harley-Davidson items to his son as gifts would show him love. Mr. Davis agrees to the deal. They gas up the moped and go for a long drive, the whole way to Mr. Pike’s. Styx intends to pay him for the motor, but Mr. Pike is not home.

Back at Styx’s foster house, workers from the Department of Children’s Services wait for Styx because Dad called to report Styx’s negative influence on his sons. Styx takes off; Caleb realizes that Styx planned to run away on their moped all along. Caleb and Bobby Gene feel betrayed, but Styx feels betrayed by them too. Styx flees on the moped and gets hit by a truck. The ambulance takes him to a hospital in Indianapolis; Mom follows with the boys. Mr. Pike arrives and reveals that Styx lived with him for three years before DCS took him away. Styx sneaks down the hall to tell the boys he is all right. The next day, Caleb is angry that neither Mom nor Dad will take them to see Styx again, so he decides to ride there on his bike. Bobby Gene follows. The see Styx heading home and turn around, but Mom catches them. Dad takes them to say goodbye to Styx for good. While there, Caleb reveals to Dad that he wants a bigger life than only Sutton.

When Caleb and Bobby Gene find out that DCS will soon move Styx again, they pitch the idea for Styx to move in with them, but Mom and Dad say no. When Caleb mentions that a misunderstanding caused Styx to be removed from Mr. Pike’s home, Mom calls DCS.

Dad decides to take the boys, Styx, Pixie, and Cory to the Children’s Museum. Afterward, Mr. Pike surprises them by arriving to take Styx home. He soon adopts Styx. With Styx’s happy ending and his father beginning to allow trips outside of Sutton, Caleb is happy with his extraordinary summer.