In an alternate timeline America, societal classes have been well-defined and maintained. The ten classes are not based on wealth, position, or heredity. They are based on each individual’s character and proclivities as demonstrated to his or her teachers. Most of Liam Cyning’s acquaintances seem pleased with their classification, even victorious. But on his eighteenth birthday Liam is told he has been designated as part of the Leader class and he doesn’t know what to do.

He is further told that a personal assistant has been hired for him and discovers it is his old elementary school nemesis, Meredith Sauvage, classed as an Advisor. The two of them must overcome ambiguity in the class structure, parental expectations, and their own sometimes adversarial relationship to establish a place at the table for Liam.

This story is a Bildungsroman, a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. With his grandmother as an example and Meredith by his side, Liam evolves from a self-centered boy of privilege to a man people can trust to lead them.