One stutters. One's shy. Two lie and cheat. Another is lonely and honest to a fault. Another's pretty and believes, deep down, no one would love her if she weren't. And, finally, there's one who pushes himself to the limit - anything to hang on to his father's love.
Statistically they rank among the most miserable and perpetually "at risk" citizens of the developed world. American high school students.
Into this mix, and into the supposedly idyllic setting of Palos Verdes, California, comes one of the best debate teachers in the country, who might be a match for all this - or not: Robert Lee, schooled at the Georgia Military Academy. He steps into the teenagers troubled lives and makes everything much, much... worse.
"Debate is an elective - you don't need it for college," he challenges on the first day of class, "so why are you here?" The kids must wonder themselves, especially after he partners each of them with someone they don't like, then assigns the topic they must debate in competition - something simple, easy to start out with: life or death.
The topic is euthanasia, the terminating of a life and who has the right to decide. For the students the struggle will be to make sense of this and each other, to compete honorably and cooperate fiercely.
But though Robert Lee long ago steered through and past the dangerous straits of adolescence, he harbors a pain he's never come to terms with - but he must, finally, now.
The outcome will challenge the public lives of both students and teacher, and draw forth their private selves. Each will find in himself, herself, a new voice, one that compels us to listen.
