The summer of 1972 is a turning point for fourteen-year-old Travis when he and his best friend, Cooter, team up with the older Jimmy to help destroy Ira Yates's prize watermelon patch. With a deadbeat dad and the guilt of his grandfather's death weighing heavy on his shoulders, Travis (POV) has become moody and disconnected toward his family and the world in general. But Travis soon finds out that he's in over his head in the bad-boy department when the untrusting Jimmy gives Travis a bloody nose and two black eyes.