Tad Holder, a precocious but fairly ordinary 13-year-old living in the quiet Martins Landing Community of rural East Texas, celebrates with his friends the final week of school before summer vacation. Tad's "best ever" summer when he will become a teenager, "almost a man." Poignant episodes provide lighthearted, often mischievous and comical moments, and set the early pace. The boy's dreams and plans go well until a meteorite disturbs the tranquility of his secret forest hideaway and somehow opens a door to an exciting adventure. The door has an underlying dark side, however, and the perfect summer by degrees turns into a nightmare of desperation with Tad struggling against impending doom. In the final stages tension and dread take control in an emotional race against time.