Stewart Camby is an intelligent 13-year-old trying to survive middle school. Overweight and nerdy, Stewart is the perfect target for the school bullies who take advantage of every opportunity to make his life miserable. At home, Stewart works on a machine he hopes will transmit his thoughts to outer space and make contact with aliens. One day, he makes an accidental discovery about his machine and finds it contains powers greater than he could imagine. Stewart faces the greatest challenge of his young life in controlling a machine of such great power. He must win the struggle to make good decisions or he risks destroying everything important to him.