As an infant, Neat was accidentally fed camphor oil by her illiterate great-grandmother who was unable to read the bottle's label. When the poisoning was discovered, Neat was rushed to the nearest emergency room only to be refused treatment. By the time her mother got her to the black hospital, Neat was permanently brain-damaged.Woodard paints the story of her relationship with her childlike aunt, from her excitement of having a "grown-up" playmate to her embarrassment at some of Neat's simple ways. Alternating between Savannah, Georgia, and Albany, New York, Woodard's story shares some moving, and painful, memories of growing up black.