When a group of teenage boys gather and talk on a moonlit beach, when you add alcohol and drugs, when you spice that mixture with a power struggle between two strong personalities, then the boys do things they would never do otherwise. They break into a food store, are arrested and face criminal charges. This leads to far-reaching consequences. Friendship, love, parent-child relationships, all areas of life are affected. Jason Abbott realizes this as his summer progresses. Along the way, he falls in love with two girls, he learns the pleasure of volunteering, he goes to court, he takes revenge on one of his former buddies, he keeps good friends, he decides to work in school for a better future, and, at the end, he learns the bravest, smartest thing to do sometimes is to walk away from trouble. It truly is a quicksilver summer, a time when either very good or very bad combinations can result when his mercurial temperament reacts to the possibilities surrounding him.