Yang’s large family moves to a small two-bedroom, one-and-a-half story house on a hill in St. Paul. When they first move in, they find a hundred-dollar bill under the carpet near the stairs. Thinking that someone probably left the money by accident, they use it to buy pizza. Yang’s grandma comes to visit for the summer and to meet baby Shoually, who is named after her. After her grandma leaves, Yang sees the boy in the striped pajamas for the first time. Dawb sees him next, running into the dark of their parents’ room. He is a ghost, and eventually everyone in the family sees him, even Yang’s father, who is initially skeptical. The ghost grabs Yang’s fathers arm one night, almost breaking it.

The neighbors tell the Yangs that a little boy had fallen down the attic stairs and didn’t survive. The money under the carpet was meant to appease his spirit. After a series of encounters with the ghost, Yang’s father searches for a new apartment. Before they move, Yang’s mother finds out that her mother, who was still living in Laos, has died. Yang’s mom becomes pregnant with baby Taylor.