It all begins when the BSC receives a new client who isn?t all he seems. Claudia finds this out when she is assigned to baby-sit Joey and Nate and discovers a horrible secret about their home life-Nate and Joey are being abused by their father. The boys first lie to Claudia about where they?ve gotten some of the bruises that Claudia is able to see, but later, Claudia-unseen by the father-witnesses it from a hiding place on the stairs. She doesn?t? know what to do at first, but then she does the right thing and tells her mother. Ann m. Martin definitely has a way of bringing her readers into the story. I felt like I was right there with Claudia, feeling exactly as nervous and confused as she stood on the stairs and heard the loud slap of the boys being hit. That?s how powerful it was. For anyone who is looking for a book that brings up a the subject of abusie in a way that really opens your eyes to it, I highly recommend ?Claudia and the Terrible Truth?.