Before being deployed to Afghanistan, Jim's father gives his teenage son a mysterious compass. It is summer time, and the family has just moved to Jim's grandfather's home. To keep Jim busy for the rest of the summer, his mother enrolls him in the drama class at his new school. There he meets Marty (a Jewish boy who is constantly bullied), Madison (the girl Jim is attracted to), Mr. Morris (the drama teacher who is obsessed with finding Pirate Kirk's treasure), Leah (an anorexic who can't stand being parented), Caleb (who silently suffers from family abuse) and other students. As Jim starts building these relationships, things spin out of his control. On the top of all chaos at home, Jim's father becomes Missing in Action. Jim is totally disoriented and lost. Only when he turns to the compass his father gave him, does his life start making sense...