Simon and his family move to Grin and Bear It, Nebraska, a National Quiet Zone with no Internet or radio.

Simon starts seventh grade mid-year and befriends a green-haired boy named Kevin Matapang.

Agate van der Zwaan sits with Simon at lunch and proposes they create a fake signal from outer space.

Agate arrives unannounced at Simon's house, and the resident peacock charges her before Simon's dad intervenes.

Agate brings the smallest puppy from her family's litter to Simon's house, and Simon names the dog Hercules.

Simon's school distributes orange memorial ribbons to every student in the days before the shooting anniversary.

On the anniversary of the shooting, Simon spends the entire day hiding under his bed with his parents and Hercules.

Kevin travels to the next town, Googles Simon, and discovers Simon is the sole survivor of a school shooting.

While luring loose emus back into a barn, Simon tells Agate he survived a school shooting and that she is his best friend.

A tornado siren triggers Simon's trauma response and he collapses on the ground, unable to move.

Simon arrives at school to find a memorial shrine built for him on the steps and explodes with anger at Agate.

Simon's dad gives a church sermon naming the shooting victims and declaring he doubts God has a plan.

Kevin apologizes to Simon for being distant and agrees to contribute his family's microwave to the space signal project.

Simon pushes the microwave buttons in sets of five, seven, and eleven, and the fake signal reaches the radio telescopes.

The microwave falls from the treehouse, Simon jumps out to escape, Agate follows, and both are taken to the hospital.

Simon O'Keeffe and his family move to Grin and Bear It, Nebraska, a National Quiet Zone with no Internet, where Simon hopes to hide his identity as the sole survivor of a school shooting. He quickly makes two friends, Agate and Kevin, and gets drawn into Agate's plan to send a fake signal from space. As the anniversary of the shooting approaches, Simon's secret unravels when Kevin Googles him, forcing Simon to open up to both friends about his past. After a tornado triggers a severe trauma reaction and a school shrine pushes him to a breaking point, Simon's father's brave sermon inspires Simon to stop hiding. Simon and his friends successfully send the fake signal, but the fallout exposes their plan and ends with Simon and Agate in the hospital, where Simon finally accepts his past.

The headline events of Simon's journey from hiding to healing.

Simon sees the enormous radio telescopes for the first time while flying into Grin and Bear It.

Simon's homeroom teacher gives him a look of pity when the school bell startles him on his first day.

Agate shows Simon her SETI textbooks and tells him about a repeating space signal once labeled Little Green Men.

Kevin shows Simon the metal cage at his house that contains computers and a microwave to contain radiation.

Kevin tells Simon at the Hello Hello coffee shop that the SETI project's funding is seriously at risk.

Simon visits Agate's farm for the first time, meets her large family, and plays with the service dog puppies.

Simon accidentally lets slip to Agate that a trauma specialist in Omaha once recommended he get a dog.

A squirrel chews through the church's altar bread supply, and Simon's dad has to leave town for rabies shots.

Simon invites Agate to join him and Kevin at his house, and the trio watches the movie Contact on DVD.

The same church is struck by lightning during the tornado because a squirrel had previously chewed through the lightning rod cable.

Simon and his mother rush to the storm-damaged church, where Simon's dad is overwhelmed with relief to see his son safe.

Simon's mother reveals that her employee accidentally lost a body, which traveled all the way to Iowa on a truck.

Kevin steals the microwave from his mother's car and he and Simon haul it together toward Agate's farm.

A news reporter who previously harassed Simon's family parks a van outside his house and tries to find the back door.

The peacock launches a full attack on the reporter in Simon's yard, chasing her completely off the property.

While the main story follows Simon's healing, his world is filled with colorful secondary events that give GNB its texture and warmth. From the moment he flies in and sees the enormous radio telescopes, Simon navigates a quirky town where a squirrel terrorizes a church, a body accidentally hitchhikes to Iowa, and a peacock doubles as a security system. Simon steadily builds his friendships through small shared moments like watching a movie together and visiting Kevin's unusual household. Each comic or tender secondary scene layers onto Simon's experience, making GNB feel like a real home rather than just a hiding place. By the time the fake signal draws a media circus, readers understand exactly why Simon would rather be in this strange little town than anywhere else on earth.

The supporting scenes and subplots that shape Simon's world.

Simon tells his new classmates the alpaca story to avoid revealing the real reason his family moved to GNB.

Agate explains she chose Simon for the project because he has not yet taken sides in GNB's two competing factions.

Agate openly tells Simon she has autism, which makes Simon feel less alone about his own mental health differences.

Simon imagines worst-case scenarios about SETI shutting down, including the terrifying possibility of the Internet coming to GNB.

Agate calls the funeral home's business phone to announce she is bringing Simon a puppy, hanging up before he can object.

Simon worries that asking Kevin to join the fake signal plan will make Kevin think he is too weird to stay friends with.

Agate shows Simon her treehouse and reveals that the Vega star will align perfectly with the telescopes in one month.

Kevin confronts Simon about the shooting after Googling him and reveals that his mother already knows the story.

Simon argues with his parents about whose suffering from the shooting's aftermath is the greatest.

Kevin distances himself from Simon at school, hurt that Simon kept such an enormous secret for so long.

Agate gifts Simon a T-shirt reading I survived the Eagle Crest school shooting and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

Simon uses the Internet for the first time in months at a hotel but realizes he would rather be back home with his friends.

Scientists and reporters swarm Agate's farm after the fake space signal attracts nationwide attention.

Simon meets Agate's father for the first time at the hospital, and Agate's dad suggests Simon keep Hercules permanently.

Simon and Agate sit together in their wheelchairs at the hospital, and Simon feels grateful for his past, present, and future.

From the very first scene, Simon uses humor and misdirection to keep people from learning who he really is, and the story tracks every moment that armor begins to crack. Small revelations — Agate discussing her autism openly, Simon realizing SETI's collapse would destroy his safe haven — slowly shift Simon from someone who hides to someone who begins to trust. His secret unravels in stages: Kevin finds out, then confronts him, then pulls away, forcing Simon to face the cost of secrecy. After the tornado and the school shrine push him to a breaking point, his father's sermon and Kevin's apology open the door to genuine healing. By the story's final scenes, Simon has moved from passive survival to active choice — keeping Hercules, speaking to reporters, and sitting with Agate in grateful acceptance of everything that made him who he is.