A father who breaks his promise. Two teenagers running from themselves. A teacher who is too young for the task at hand.Margherita is fourteen and about to step across a magical threshold into her first year of high school. Secure in the knowledge that she can rely on her loved ones for support, Margherita sees high school as a new world to be explored and conquered. But one day when she gets home from school, she receives a voicemail; it is her father letting her know he won't be coming home again.As she overcomes her sadness, Margherita gradually matures into a woman, the way a pearl forms despite the ocean's tides.As she travels the difficult path through adolescence, Margherita receives encouragement from her mother, her lively younger brother, and her grandmother Teresa, who knows about love and has wonderful stories to share. Then there is Marta, her cheerful classmate, and Giulio, the somber, handsomest boy in the school. But the most important figure in Margherita's life is her teacher, a young man still struggling to make his way, yet sensitive to the lessons that literature has to teach his students, who are just beginning to grapple with life's uncertainties.When he draws Margherita's attention to the courage of Telemachus in the Odyssey, she sets out on a journey in search of her father. This adventure, though she does not know it yet, will completely change her destiny.