Twelve-year-old Jonathan Grisby has been sent to the Slabhenge Reformatory School for Troubled Boys, a former lunatic asylum which is currently run by a sadist who enjoys punishing the boys and setting them against each other; but when a lightning strikekills all the adults the boys find themselves suddenly free--and trapped on Scar Island which seems to be sinking into the ocean.

Gilly and her friends must prepare for a giant invasion after Jack plants magic beans, earning him a spot in Fairy Tale Reform School and reminding Gilly how good it feels to be bad.