Thirteen-year-old Jackie Monterey wants to write a novel the summer before he starts high school. There's just one problem -- he can't get past the first sentence. His friends are no help. When Nick isn't combing his hair or dealing with his fear of dogs, he's checking out girls. Gary is either obsessed with perfecting his new English accent or just idolizing Nick. And Jackie's best friend, Mallory, a theme park fanatic, is caught up in her own writing project -- a contest essay to win a trip to Kingdom of Magic.

It looks like Jackie might finally find inspiration when he joins the swim team and falls in love with the coach's daughter. But things start to get weird when Nick hooks up with a dog-crazy girlfriend and Mallory begins reciting poetry with a goon from the rival swim team. Before the summer is over, everything Jackie has counted on to stay the same has changed, and everyone is giving him advice, about how to live his life. They couldn't be right, could they?