It's the near future and education has become big business. Dr. Newman is at the leading edge of creating the perfect educational environment for children, and all he requires is a hefty tuition-and your child at the age of six months.
Christopher Carson is one of the "Newman Residents" who live at the Newman Home year-round. His parents, Richard and Carol, both Manhattan attorneys, may disagree about the specifics, but each wants what's best for their son. For Richard, this means bringing Christopher, now six years old, home for one last summer vacation before the visits become brief and infrequent.
Carol agrees with the staff: Christopher should stay at the school. And Christopher is confused, not sure where his real home is anymore. But Richard would like for their house to be Christopher's home, at least for one summer.
As Richard and Christopher spend more time together they become closer. Not long into Christopher's visit, Richard begins to suspect that the Newman Home's methods for developing their children into future leaders are too experimental, if not outright dangerous. His suspicions are confirmed when a secretive support group of Newman parents reaches out to him about their frightening experiences with the school.
Richard's investigations into the Newman Home quickly spiral out of control; he has underestimated the extent of the school's power and connections-and Dr. Newman's incessant drive to achieve a new level of success for the students. But what Dr. Newman underestimates may be even more powerful: one father's determination to fight for his son against the odds.
What follows in "The Newman Resident" is a whirlwind battle between a devoted father and an education system more terrifyingly powerful than he ever could have imagined. It's a battle that forces him to confront how some will cross any line in order to create the "perfect" child.