Riley Anderson is an 11-year-old girl. She moves from Minnesota to San Francisco with her family. This affects a number of emotions in her head. The five emotion characters are: Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness. These emotions all help with her thoughts. They help each other with Riley's mind. Each of the characters has power over an island of Riley's life, which represent different parts of her personality. After a series of events that change different things, she learns to accept her new life in San Francisco.