Great! That's just great! Just because I skipped out on that stupid economics class one too many times, I can't graduate with the rest of my class. Now that horrible man, Principal Speace, is assigning me some lame "special assignment" to earn my diploma. As if I haven't already worked hard enough in the past twelve years. He gave me 50 days to get it done, and it looks like it will take every bit of that ...

Sara is 18 and ready to graduate high school, but because she has skipped class too many times, Principal Speace will not give her a diploma. She is faced with an ultimatum: either complete a special assignment that will last 50 days or return next semester to complete the class.

Coming from an abusive, single-parent home, Sara is eager to graduate so she can get a job and move out on her own, so she grudgingly accepts the assignment.

Each assignment is a mystery. When Sara completes an assignment and leaves her report under the potted rose in front of the school, she finds another brief note from Principal Speace about her next adventure.

What follows are situations that challenge her in every way and shape the rest of her life.