Izzie Branson is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her older sister Jo and her crazy scientist of a father. Izzie never really got along with her father, mostly since he's always in his laboratory working on God-knows-what. But on her birthday, her father gives her his newest creation: the "Forever Friend" doll, a toy that can be programmed to learn and remember information about the owner by talking to it, creating a realistic conversation and friendship between the doll and human. He hopes that this prototype, which he's named Charlie, can prove to be successful enough to create an entire line of them. Izzie is a bit insulted that her father would give her a gift that was more for him than for her, but she decides to test it for him, anyway. Soon, though, she notices strange things occurring. Strange, dangerous things. Things she's being blamed and punished for. She knows she didn't do any of them, but she can't explain who else could have done it. After all, it's not like the doll did it; that would be ridiculous.