Joe is in his thirties as he recounts the events of The Round House. The narrative begins during spring when he is thirteen years old. While Joe and his father are working in their yard, his mother is raped and almost murdered. Joe spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out who his mother’s attacker is. Though he is only thirteen and his father, Bazil, warns him about getting too involved with the case, Joe wants revenge for his mother. Joe enlists the help of his friends to track down the attacker.

Joe’s narrative moves from feelings of revenge to the everyday detailing of a teenager’s life. He and his friends love Star Trek, and Joe has a crush on his uncle Whitey’s girlfriend. Joe also describes life on the reservation, giving astute observations about how Native Americans were treated in the past, and how they still suffer abuse from people off the reservation.

Joe is discouraged when his mother’s attacker, Linden Lark, is not brought to justice. His mother is traumatized, and his father is so stressed he has a heart attack. With the aid of his friend, Cappy, Joe steals a shotgun and the two friends kill Linden Lark.