Martin’s friends at Edgeview think they’re unworthy as people, but Martin realizes they’re simply encumbered by unusual powers that they can learn to control. In mastering those abilities, the boys begin to see themselves as worthwhile, and Martin’s efforts lead him to his own powers and a surprising understanding of his own worth.

Torchie’s fire starting, Cheater’s suspicious test scores, Flinch’s strange luck with sports, Lucky’s closetful of found items, and Trash’s hurled objects all suggest boys with anger, coordination, or honesty issues. Martin digs deeper and figures out that each kid possesses a special ability—Torchie can control combustion, Cheater can read minds, Flinch can foretell the very-near future, Lucky mentally connects to lost items, and Trash can move objects with his mind.

Martin’s efforts to convince his friends that they’re not bad but super-powered fall on deaf ears, and the boys shun him. None of them want to believe Martin because each worries that such abilities would permanently mark them “freaks,” something they could never live down. Lucky intuits this early on: “If enough people call you crazy, maybe you begin to believe it, even if you aren’t’” (40).