The sick and the silent are building in secret. Susie Green wants TEEN BEAT magazine and best-friend hangs, not grief counseling and a mom who micromanages oxygen. Then an odd craft appears over Longmont, Colorado, and people go quiet, disappearing by day, meeting by night, building in silence. From plans no one remembers writing. Susie's mom is one of the first. Teamed up with her friends and a science teacher two beakers from a meltdown, Susie digs in. She's got one parent left, but the woman is a world-class pain. Save her wicked witch of a mother or let whatever's happening in Colorado unfold? The clock's already ticking. The sick and the silent are busy. And the sky is crowding with their contraptions.