In the Fairview section of Camden, New Jersey during the summer of 1976, Eleven-year-old Bobby O'Malley and his friends spend their days waiting for the July 4th fireworks celebration at Malandra Field. As the dog days of summer go by, the inevitable specter of a new school year looms near.

One August night Bobby's friend Iggy Scanlon pulls a prank on his neighbor Mental Marty Rainer, neither he nor Bobby suspect that it will end in a horrific act of violence. Suddenly, the town seems much smaller, stained by the brutal act that took Iggy's life.

The end of childhood for Bobby means having to navigate his own sense of fragile mortality in light of Iggy's last days that will haunt him for years to come.