Brad Loews has a problem: After taking off from college to run the family business and putting Bree through four years at Clemson he should be able to return to Tech and finish his degree, shouldn't he? With an uncooperative sister and loan deferments hanging over his head Brad has the rest of the summer to find someone he can trust to run The Hobby Stop.

St. Augustine, Florida, 1969. An eight-year-old boy's wish to see the fireworks from atop the city's lighthouse is complicated by his odd neighbors, abusive peers, and hopeless parents. The young boy's seemingly simple goal develops into a struggle in which his life, both internal and corporeal, hangs in the balance