Meet Luke Haggerty
"It isn't mine!"

That's Luke's only defense when the assistant principal pulls a small handgun out of his locker. If Mr. Sazio, the police, or the judge believed those three simple words, Luke would never even have heard of the Phoenix.

All through the trial he sits stone-faced. That was Reese's gun. Why doesn't Luke tell them? Sure, no one likes a tattle tale, but this is his life! And by the time the numbness wears off, the verdict is in: Guilty. The choice: six months in juvenile detention or Charting A New Course, a four-week sailing trip for troubled youth.

Until he sets his feet on the deck planks of the Phoenix, Luke Haggerty doesn't know what trouble really is.