Jacqueline Woodson is the main character and narrator of this memoir, which details her family history and her beginnings as a writer. Woodson is drawn to writing from an early age, as a way both to escape some of the difficulties of her early life and to make sense of them. She has a strong sense of family, which her writing allows her to express. She is also restless and adventurous, drawn to many different stories besides her own.

In order to achieve her dream of becoming a writer, Woodson must confront several obstacles. One of these obstacles is her difficulty in spelling and sounding out words, which makes her a different sort of student than her gifted older sister, Odella. She compensates for this difficulty by learning how to memorize entire texts, and earns academic recognition by reciting these texts out loud. This shows her courage and willfulness, essential qualities for becoming an artist. She eventually recites a poem of her own out loud in her class, and is recognized not only as a good student but as a writer in her own right.