"It was in Innsmouth where I met the greatest Scout I've ever known, a boy named Aubrey Marsh, and he's the reason I'm still here and the reason I still believe it's worth being human, even though he's not quite either of those things anymore."

In the summer of 1963, Bud Castillo moves with his family from busy Queens, NY, to the bleak town of Innsmouth, MA, after a local oil consortium hires his father to help with a drilling platform off the coast. Bud meets a kindred spirit in the town library, Aubrey, the only other boy in town. Scouting is the cornerstone of Bud's life, and founding a troop in Innsmouth is the only way he can conceive of coping with what he is sure is a disastrous move.

But the delights of that summer are ending, as Bud discovers that Reverend Pritchett of the Evangelical Progress Temple has plans to return Innsmouth to greatness and glory.