Dr. Hanna Burkhardt is a teacher by vocation: she is not only interested in teaching the pupils the subject matter, she also wants to be a human support and help them when necessary. The school authorities don't like this at all; in their eyes, she has failed several times. Her last chance is the ninth grade of a grammar school. At first, she has no access to the pupils. Only with Martin, a spoiled but lonely child of divorce, does Hanna develop a genuine relationship of trust. The rest of the class, however, remains dismissive until the day Hans, leader of the class jazz band, dies. His last wish was for the band to play at his grave, which the principal does everything in his power to prevent. Hanna, however, manages to get the class to play at the boy's grave - the ice is broken. Martin's diary, which is found in the school and in which the pupil confesses his love for her, almost becomes the teacher's undoing.