Where It All Goes Down
The Town
St. Andrew Valley is small, any-town USA. It's small enough that Jason seems to be able to walk just about anywhere he needs to go, the same police officer shows up to multiple scenes, and there's only one water tower. The kids can glimpse the next town over from atop it.
The author doesn't place St. Andrew Valley in any state. But it seems quite mid-America. Though Jason references other religions (Mormonism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Scientology) and other places of worship (temple, mosque, coven) there doesn't seem to be a lot of diversity in St. Andrew Valley. And to be fair, neither Hautman or Jason are interested in exploring world religions. This is one kid's coming-of-age journey, taking place in his own small world.
We do have to note the name though. Saint Andrew is another New Testament guy, and the first of twelve men to become Jesus's disciple. Which means Andrew thought highly enough of who Jesus was and what he had to say that he left home, work, and family to follow him around for about three years. He also happened to be Peter's brother. We can't say why Hautman named Jason's little town after the dude, but he chose this name instead of Whateverville or Somethingtown so it probably wasn't an accident.
The Season
All the action takes place in the last few weeks of summer break, in the lives of sixteen-year-old high school students. The days are long and hot. This stiflingly boring atmosphere kind of contributes to Jason's creating Chutengodianism. The kids have enough time on their hands to create sacraments and commandments and climb towers. The heat makes the whole water thing more enticing too—we almost want to shuck off our sneakers and jump in for a swim too. Almost.