A time to escapeTwelve-year-old Owen Brand and his family move to Middlecross, a riverside town in rural Canada, hoping to leave poverty and unhappiness behind.A time for innocenceOwen meets three local boys, and they soon form an inseparable band. Over the summer holidays they create their own world, a place apart from the adults who watch over them. Owen also grows close to Jennifer, a fascinating but deeply troubled girl.And a time to grow upThen the gang stumble across a body in the river – a discovery with unimaginable consequences for them and the town, from which there is no going back.