Seventeen year old Jake Ledger wanted nothing more than to have a place he could call home. His father had been murdered when he was only five years old and since then he and his mother Jo had never lived in one place for more than a year. Jo was a drug addict who supported her habit through prostitution which forced her and her son to live a rambling existence, constantly moving from one cheap motel to another and from one town to another.
Scars on Jake’s body told a horrific tale of physical abuse that he had suffered from her violent hands over the years. However, in spite of the storms that constantly raged around him, this child had a special gift that made him very unique – he had a brilliant mind which always propelled him to the top of his class even though he never remained at the same school for more than a year.
Jake’s world was bleak to say the least. But something happened the summer before his senior year of high school that would change the course of his life forever. His mother almost died from a drug overdose. The near-death experience motivated her to get clean but she knew she couldn’t do it on her own. At the invitation of her Aunt Hazel, Jo and her son move to the small town of Kernersville, North Carolina where they hope to get a fresh start.
Their bags are barely unpacked before Jake meets the beautiful Sammi Sullivan who happens to live in the mobile home right next door. Sparks ignite between them right away and before long he realizes that for the first time in his life he is falling in love. With a high IQ and a budding romance with the most beautiful girl in town, Jake’s future seems laden with possibilities; but two obstacles stand in the way of his newfound hopes and dreams. His mother’s demons return with a vengeance putting his relationship with Sammi in jeopardy and also threatening his college aspirations. And then there is Scott Robertson, a young man the locals refer to as the Devil of Kernersville.
He has never had to work a day in his life because his wealthy father gives him anything he wants. He is spoiled; he is spiteful; and he is determined to have Sammi for himself at all costs, even if it means killing the new guy in town. Jake must now make a choice between his mother and the girl he loves and if he chooses the girl, he could lose his very life. Jake Ledger’s senior year becomes much more than just ballgames and school dances. It becomes his journey into manhood.