The novel begins in 1957 in Derry. It’s during the fall and it has been pouring heavily for about a week. The streets are flooded with rainwater. George badly wants to play in the rain, so he enlists his older brother Bill to build him a paper boat. Bill builds a fine paper boat for George who goes outside to play with it. The water on the street is flowing fast, which propels the boat faster. George follows the boat into a drainage that leads to the sewers. As he reaches for the boat, It tricks George into leaning closer to him by using a red floating Balloon. It rips out George’s hand and kills him instantly. A neighbor rushes out to the scene and picks up George’s dead body and takes it home.
The kids form a club known as the Losers’ Club. They all have traits that make them outcasts. Ben lives with her single mother who overfeeds him making him overweight. Bill has stuttered speech and is an introvert. Eddie has an overprotective mother who convinces him that he is diagnosed with asthma. Beverly lives with his abusive father. They live in poverty. Richie luckily comes from a good home but has a bad sense of humor. Mike and Stanley are from stable homes but are limited by the color of skin and religion, respectively. After George’s death, they come together as friends. They create a bond that’s stronger than friendship. They’ve all had traumatic experiences with It. The children look for ways to defeat It. They learn that it possesses shape-shifting abilities. They also discover that the terror It brings has long been the history of Derry. They decide to defeat It temporarily using a silver bullet, but it’s not strong enough. Together, they decide to perform a ritual that will send It back to where it came from. All of the kids make a blood oath to come back and stop It when it resurfaces. The kids come together and through their friendship and connection, they successfully send It away, for about twenty-seven years.
Twenty-seven years later in 1984, a gay man is attacked and killed. His body is dumped in the Canal from the town’s bridge. Witnesses claim to have seen a clown drag the body away. They also claim to have seen thousands of red floating balloons. Librarian Mike Hanlon makes a call to six of his childhood friends. He first calls Stanley Uris from Atlanta. The call prompts Stanley to commit suicide in his home. He leaves a message about an impending danger. The second call is to Richard Tozier from Los Angeles. The third is Ben Hanscom from Nebraska. After getting the call, Ben starts to question whether he might die soon. The fourth call is to Eddie Kaspbrak. The fifth is Beverly Rogan from Chicago. She is in an abusive marriage which comes to light when she tries to leave. Tom, her husband forbids her from leaving, and they get into an altercation. She luckily manages to escape. The final call is to Bill Denbrough from England. As kids, they all used to live in Derry, but they have since moved except Mike Hanlon. He acts as the towns ‘watcher’ of strange things happening in Derry. In 1958, the seven kids defeated It. Twenty-seven years later, it has resurfaced and it’s time they permanently killed It.
Henry has been in a mental institution for murdering his father and falsely accused of murdering children. He receives a package containing a switchblade inside. Henry uses it to escape and goes after Mike at the library. Mike learns that Henry is being controlled by It. Henry almost kills Mike, but Eddie manages to put Henry down. Mike is rushed to the hospital where his friends come to see him together. The Club decides to go look for It in its hideout. They find It transformed into a giant spider. They manage to save Bill and use the ritual to destroy It but Eddie gets attacked by the Spider. Eddie dies and Bill squeezes It’s heart until It becomes completely lifeless. The caves underneath Derry begin to collapse and earthquakes are felt a mile away. As they walk farther from the scene, the scars on their wrist from the oath disappears, symbolizing the completion of the mission. Bill’s stuttering disappears and their memories begin to fade. They all go out to the world once more to live their lives, free of It.
