Thereโs bad news and good news about the Cutter High School swim team. The bad news is that they donโt have a pool. The good news is that only one of them can swim anyway. A group of misfits brought together by T. J. Jones (the J is redundant), the Cutter All Night Mermen struggle to find their places in a school that has no place for them. T.J. is convinced that a varsity letter jacketโexclusive, revered, the symbol (as far as T.J. is concerned) of all that is screwed up at Cutter Highโwill also be an effective tool. Heโs right. Heโs also wrong. Still, itโs always the quest that counts. And the bus on which the Mermen travel to swim meets soon becomes the space where they gradually allow themselves to talk, to fit, to grow. Together theyโll fight for dignity in a world where tragedy and comedy dance side by side, where a momentโs inattention can bring lifelong heartache, and where true acceptance is the only prescription for what ails us.