The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Rowell, Rainbow. Wayward Son. St. Martin's Publishing Group, New York, NY, 2019. Kindle AZW file.

As Wayward Son opens, Simon Snow is, as usual, in his London apartment. After the heroism of the previous novel, Carry On, Simon no longer has magic power. However, he does have enormous wings and a tail. He compares himself to the fallout after a nuclear bomb. He is not interested in anything, including his friendship with a magician named Penny or his romance with a vampire/magician named Baz. Penny and Baz are still attending classes at the university but are desperate to get Simon out of his poor state of mind. Penny comes up with the plan for a vacation in America. When Simon eventually agrees, Baz joins because he is relieved to find that Simon is willing to leave the apartment.

They arrive in Chicago to discover that Penny's boyfriend, Micah, has been trying to tell her their relationship is over for more than a year. She takes the news hard and wants to go home; but, Simon insists they go on to California as they planned, to visit their friend Agatha. The problem is that Agatha is not really interested in being Penny's friend and not interested in their visit. She left London to escape all ties with magic and is now spending time with a Normal girl named Ginger. Ginger is involved with a program called NowNext, and Agatha reluctantly goes along. There is a second problem, too. It is a long way from Chicago to California – farther than any of them realized – and they have limited resources other than their magic.

They settle into the road trip and stop at a Renaissance fair where Simon's wings garner applause and questions of how he created them. The three friends are surprised when they encounter a group of vampires, whom they kill before the vampires can feed on humans they have selected. They pass it off as a magic show and flee the fair, but a Normal named Shepard follows. They end up in a showdown with some dangerous creatures. Shepard actually helps save them twice, though it takes time for them to truly trust him.

Penny receives a disturbing voicemail from Agatha, who has come to realize that she is in danger. The NowNext group is actually populated by vampires, led by a sophisticated man named Braden. The vampires are trying to code magic into their DNA, and they need people with magic abilities – like Agatha – to complete the process. Shepard leads Baz, Simon, and Penny to Las Vegas where Baz connects with a vampire named Lamb who seems willing to help them find Agatha. Lamb actually leads them into a trap, having agreed to hand over anyone with magic powers to Braden's group. The vampires outnumber Simon's group, but they do not count on the ingenuity and abilities of the friends. Simon's group escapes, having rescued Agatha in the process.

Back at Agatha's apartment in California, the members of the group begin to heal themselves and each other using their natural abilities and magic. Shepard reveals that he is cursed. Penny pledges to help him break the curse if he returns to London with them. Agatha decides that she fled London in the hope of getting away from magic. Now, she cannot turn her back on that part of her identity. Simon and Baz are on the verge of working out their relationship issues when Penny announces they are needed back in England immediately.