Biracial lesbian teenager Avery Anderson's life is uprooted when her family moves from Washington, D.C. to Bardell, Georgia at the start of her senior year of high school to care for her dying grandmother, Mama Letty. Avery struggles to get to know her grandmother and to deal with her mother and Mama Letty's fights. She also loses the will to continue with the Plan: ace her classes, be accepted to Georgetown, and study astronomy; but doesn't tell her parents. Avery tries to get them to work things out, but some things just can't be fixed: Avery's grandfather Ray being murdered by white men, Mama Letty struggling to raise her daughter after Ray's death, Avery's mother's feelings for the girl next door and their falling out, Jade's mother's murder. As Avery uncovers her family's past and her feelings grow for Simone, secrets are revealed that might should have stayed buried. This is a story of generational pain and racial struggles in a small southern town.