In 1982 on an island off the coast of South Carolina, the racism and ostracism bubbling just beneath the surface of daily life make it feel more like the Jim Crow South of the 1950s. Cast into this setting is fifteen-year-old Ash Howe, a boy who appears counter to everything the locals consider "normal" his hair is long, he loves heavy metal music, and he's socially awkward. The target of relentless verbal and physical bullying, he has, due to undiagnosed ADHD, endured being held back twice by an indifferent school system. Two girls further complicate his life. The first is Ally, who Ash has a huge crush on but is part of a popular clique that makes her seemingly unobtainable. The second is a ghost of local legend said to haunt a neighboring uninhabited island and its abandoned lighthouse that Ash and his friends use as a refuge.

Two events alter Ash's life: his band's performance at the annual school talent show and a horrific blunder when he finds himself alone in the lighthouse on a dark night. The choices Ash makes set in motion events that prove that the miraculous is closer than he realizes and that magic is not only real but has the power to transform.