Two years after his release from Camp Green Lake, Theodore “Armpit” Johnson is living in Austin, Texas trying to build a stable lifestyle by working for a landscaping company and caring for his neighbor Ginny McDonald, a ten-year-old girl with cerebral palsy.

He meets Rex "X-Ray" Washburn, a friend from Camp Green Lake, who asks for his help in a ticket scalping scheme for teen pop star Kaira DeLeon's upcoming concert.

Later, Armpit is questioned by Detective Debbie Newberg of the Austin Police Department, and he invents a fake suspect to avoid getting accused of ticket scalping.

After Kaira is safe and Armpit has returned to Texas, he is interviewed again by Detective Newberg, who admits she figured out about the scalping ring but will not be pressing charges.

In a review, Josh Lacey commented Small Steps "has a lot to recommend - funny things, a fast-moving story, some emotive scenes, an interesting central character - but does inevitably suffer by comparison with Sachar's last novel.