Following the events in the first Wild Robot book, Roz, the wild robot, has been taken back to civilization, interrogated, repaired and is now tasked as a robot on a farm. Roz has been able to hide her 'wild side' during her repairs and on the farm. But she continues using her ability to talk to animals to find out information, especially on whether they have seen her adopted gosling son.

Word gets around, and eventually her son finds her on the farm. Roz's secret wild side is also discovered by the farmer's children, and they decide to help her escape the farm. That, she does, but now she has the difficult task to getting back to her island home. Getting there would involve her evading detection by other robots, travelling through farms and wild areas and eventually through a city. Dangers happen along the way, but Roz also makes new friends among the animals, who all try to help her. But it may not be enough, unless she can convince one important person in charge of robots, that she deserves to live and not be destroyed.

In this book, more of the world that Roz lives in is revealed. Robots are a part of daily life, but there is always the fear of a robot going rogue, hence Roz's efforts to evade detection. As with the previous book, this one is aimed at early readers but doesn't sidestep violence. It also gives the reader time to pause to consider what to do if faced with whether to allow Roz to live or be destroyed as a rogue robot, dangerous to civilization.