Salem Scott has one goal for his post-junior year summer vacation--carefree days spent jamming with his band. Too bad those plans are about to crash and burn, right into the side of his crush's house. Now, he's on the hook for the repairs, and instead of playing with his band, he's stuck volunteering in a private mental institution.

Armed with an ugly yellow sweater and BFF Jace, Salem braves his new job. But getting up close and personal with the patients forces him to confront demons he's not ready to face. And when the band kicks him to the curb for missing rehearsals, he's left teetering on the brink. Only, he understands this darkness better now, and accepting it as part of him lets him see he's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. He'll form a new band, with the hospital's motley crew of characters.

His job just turned into the greatest summer of all time.

Hopeful and fun, Mind Riot explores the angst of being painfully hipster in small-town America, the pain of functional depression, and what happens when kids who are "too cool for feels" are dropped into a reality where emotions are too loud to ignore.