In 1947, Sonny Bradshaw witnesses his mother throw a plate of food at his father when Leon comes home late. Sonny's father then packs up and leaves on business. When the relatives start to talk and the paychecks stop coming, it becomes obvious to Sonny that his daddy isn't coming back. His mother Selma is different and doesn't want to talk about the new family situation. His sister Loretta is sarcastic and teases him about his "spells," and his brother Deaton is just a baby.

Sonny doesn't know what to think of the changes. Then one day, Selma decides to tell her Methodist family that she wants to join a new church called the One-Way Word of Faith Tabernacle. Sonny's Aunt Roo and Aunt Joy can't believe she would do such a thing and Grandma begs her to reconsider, but Selma tells Grandpa anyway. The Sunday that follows is a new beginning for the family. Soon after, the pastor of One-Way walks into their lives and becomes Sonny's Uncle Marty.

The hot Alabama summer of 1954 rolls around; Sonny is now thirteen and enjoys making warplane models. The family has since moved on. Loretta is wild and works at the Chat n' Chew. Denton is now seven and has a cat named Cantaloupe. Sonny would like a job to help make ends meet, so Uncle Marty offers him a job at the Circle of Life doughnut shop and restaurant that he owns.

The job isn't easy but it pays well. One task that Uncle Marty has Sonny perform is to repaint the menu. Sonny wants to please him but finds the Scriptures that correspond with such items as the hamburgers and the ice cream confusing. When he innocently asks about an idea that he came up with for the menu, Sonny accidentally offends his Uncle Marty. This incident seems to foreshadow a change in the relationship between Sonny and Uncle Marty, and of greater events to come.

One Friday afternoon, after Sonny is paid for his fourth week working at the Circle of Life, Uncle Marty asks him to watch over the place while he goes to the bank. It is a hot quiet day, and not wanting to fall asleep, Sonny searches for some paper and something to draw airplanes with. When he opens an appointment calendar to take out some blank pages, a letter falls out. Sonny picks up the letter and makes a startling discovery: the letter is from his father Leon and is addressed from Mobile, a place not far from where Sonny lives.

Sonny decides to look for his daddy. After leaving a note for his family, he takes a two-hour bus ride to Mobile. The next day, he gets lucky and finds the apartment building where his dad lives. But when he shows up, two men answer the door and tell him that Leon doesn't live there.

Confused and embarrassed for being called a sneak, Sonny heads back home. When he gets there, he doesn't mention to his mother why he really left. She is upset but happy to have him home. The next morning Sonny finds out that Nissa, the daughter of the family's housekeeper Mamby, has been seriously injured by a fishhook and is in the hospital.

Sonny feels overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the hospital and by the fact that Nissa's room is located in the basement. Unfortunately, Nissa's leg must be amputated. Her first day back at work, Mamby puts together a meal for Nissa. The seventeen-year-old girl is depressed and her mother hopes that some home cooking will help. When she is unexpectedly needed back home, Sonny is given the task of delivering the meal to Nissa. It is during this visit that an unlikely friendship between the two teens is formed, as well as Sonny's first crush on a girl, a situation that leads to a lesson on social views toward race.

A few weeks later, Sonny receives a surprising phone call and an even more surprising question from his little brother concerning their father. This brings about a conversation that rattles Sonny and leaves him with more unanswered questions --- questions that make Sonny wonder what's being said about his family and what really is the truth. Then, when nothing else could possibly happen that fateful summer, Sonny has a confrontation with Uncle Marty --- a confrontation in which secrets are revealed, causing repercussions that no one could have imagined.

SONNY'S HOUSE OF SPIES is a coming-of-age story. It makes you think about what life was like in the South in the 1950s and what life is like now. With its references to family, religion, racial prejudice and homosexuality, the book has more of a modern-day than an old-fashioned feel to it. Told through the eyes of a boy who is growing up, this is definitely not your average children's story. SONNY'S HOUSE OF SPIES shows readers that children do indeed see and hear everything that goes on around them, whether they want to or not.