Wapsi Farm was a facility for juvenile delinquents. Johnnie has been 'sentenced' to a year with other young law breakers. These boys have been abused, neglected, and all but forgotten by their families and by a society that only wants them removed from the neighborhoods. Johnnie's is forced to adjust to a new way of life and a highly structured daily regimen. His memories are both good and horrible. His friendships with the Warden's daughter and the other boys on the Farm become the center of his life. He must live with the secret of the night Jerome and Debbie left the Farm.