In 1984 Connecticut, sixteen-year-old Hannah Zandana feels cursed: she has wild, uncontrollable hair and a horrid complexion that she compulsively picks, and as if that weren't bad enough, her emotionally unavailable parents mercilessly ridicule her appearance and verbally shame her. Wanting to change her pathetic life, Hannah attempts to impress a group of popular girls--an ill-fated effort, except that she captures the attention of Deacon, a handsome and mysterious boy who also happens to be her school's resident drug dealer.