Ken tells his story loosely based on a true story in 1925 Philadelphia where two boys, 14 and 12 are sentenced to a spanking a day for 47 days for a store burglary. Ken (the names were changed in the book) is the older boy and it shows how he and Jeff the younger boy adjust to their new reality and learn to accept responsibility for their actions and how in the process Ken's relationship with his father grows and strengthens,