Set in 1978, a time of Ditto jeans and rabbit's foot keychains, Raising Panic captures the bond of sisters struggling to find security in an alcoholic home and their attempt to escape. PJ McCormack wants nothing more than to leave her rural valley and alcoholic mother, the way her father did years earlier. But she cannot leave behind her nine-year-old sister, Panic. Instead, she teaches Panic about survival, hoping to prepare her to someday leave. After Panic witnesses the historic PSA 182 jetliner crash (the first televised mass-casualty event in the U.S.), the family is thrown into crisis, solidifying the sisters' plan to leave. As their situation spins out of control, they'll learn the reason behind their father's disappearance, the source of rabbit's foot keychains, and the origin of Panic's name.