It is the summer of 1967, and Leo Suther with one more year of high school to go, still has a lot to learn. He soon finds himself in the middle of a consuming love affair with Allie Donovan - whilst being tested on his. political values by her father, who challenges him on the escalating Vietnam conflict and forces him to examine just where he stands in relation to the people in his life. Throughout his - and the nation's - unforgettable 'summer of love,' Leo is learning the language of the blues, which seem to echo the mourning he feels for his dead mother, his occasionally distant father, and the youth that is fast giving way to manhood.