Tattini Hawkens is every teachers nightmare. She never does her work, she fights, she talks back and has a miserable, sullen attitude. But what the teachers fail to see are the bruises, the tears, and the scars all hidden under her famous scowl. What they don't see is how hard she is trying, how hard she is trying to keep the pain inside, to not show how much it all hurts. However, everything changes when a new teacher comes. Oblivious to the "Horror Stories" of Tattini Hawkens, Mark Hilleond comes into Tattini's life and does something no ever has. He listens and he cares and treats her just like any other eight year old. Slowly Tattini goes against her instinct to not trust and opens up to this new teacher, revealing her dark secret of home and changing her life forever.