A young boy takes on chores and small jobs around his neighborhood to raise money for a ticket to a magic show; but when his grandmother loses her job, he is faced with a difficult decision.

A journalist tries to uncover the circumstances that led to a shocking episode of violence in this drama from director James Bruce. Leonard Grey was a troubled seventeen-year-old who one day went on a shooting spree, injuring several students at his high school and killing one before he took his own life. A reporter for the Los Angeles Times is assigned to research and write an investigative piece about Grey. The journalist studies interviews conducted by the police with the boy's friends and family as well as conducting several of her own as she tries to understand what turned a seemingly ordinary youngster into a killer. She finds an especially intriguing subject in Cameron Porter, Leonard's best friend, who may have been involved in the shootings though he carefully refuses to incriminate himself.