Having spent most of her life in foster care, Ruth, at the age of twenty, is living in a tiny rented apartment and working as a waitress in a diner. It is here that she meets the Fletcher family: Mr and Mrs Fletcher and their three teenage daughters, Sarah, Amy and Claire. Ruth grows to love the family and yearns to be a part of it. She forms a friendship with Sarah, and the two go out together and have fun. But Ruth soon finds that when Sarah or any of her other siblings break the rules, they get a spanking, administered by their mother, with hand, paddle or hairbrush. It isn't long before Ruth also finds herself over the maternal lap, but far from being resentful, she is thrilled that someone loves her enough to correct her with loving discipline.

When the diner at which Ruth works goes out of business, the Fletchers invite her to live with them, offering her board in return for a little help around the house. When it becomes apparent Ruth hasn't completed her education, they treat her as one of their own and send her to school. So Ruth at last finds herself in a stable and caring family, and she thrives on it. She is given the opportunity to catch up on being a teenager again, doing all the fun things teen girls do, and when she messes up at school, she takes her licks with ruler and paddle, just like all the other kids. And when her new mom and dad make it all legal by formally adopting her, she is delighted to have a real family of her own.