Schoolgirls mock Genesis and call her 'Eggplant' and 'Charcoal' after arriving at her house to find the family evicted.

Emory finds a ranch-style house in the wealthy suburb of Farmington Hills and the family moves in.

Emory returns home drunk after the family unpacks; Mama finds a poker chip in his jacket and demands he attend AA.

Genesis starts at Farmington Oaks Middle School and meets Mrs. Hill, her chorus teacher, who encourages her love of singing.

Genesis makes friends with Sophia in PE and Troy during math tutoring; the three eat lunch together in the library.

During a chorus imagery exercise, Genesis gets lost in a traumatic memory of Emory drunkenly shouting at her in a basement.

Genesis learns from Grandma about the family's brown paper bag tradition and fears Grandma looks down on her for being dark-skinned.

Genesis scrubs her skin painfully with a scouring pad and rubs lemon juice into the wounds trying to lighten her complexion.

Emory comes home drunk and mocks Genesis for performing in her bedroom while wearing light-colored makeup, calling it 'whiteface.'

Genesis finds an eviction notice on the door and learns at Emory's workplace that he was fired and never received the promotion.

Mama discovers Genesis stole her credit card to buy bleaching cream and let Yvette put a relaxer in her hair.

Mama grounds Genesis from performing in the talent show; Genesis decides to sneak out and perform anyway.

Genesis performs a medley of jazz songs at the talent show; Troy wins, and Mama finds Genesis clutching the self-hatred list.

Genesis finds Emory crying; he reveals his mother called him worthless and wished he had died instead of his brother Charlie.

Genesis tears up her self-hatred list and tells Mama she wants to begin again by discovering what she loves about herself.

Genesis Anderson is a thirteen-year-old girl whose family is repeatedly evicted because of her father Emory's drinking and gambling. After moving to a new suburban neighborhood, Genesis starts at a new school, makes her first real friends, and finds a chorus teacher who recognizes her gift for singing. Her father's addiction worsens, threatening their home again and pushing Genesis to increasingly dangerous attempts to lighten her skin. When her mother discovers the stolen credit card and the secret relaxer, Genesis is grounded from the talent show, but she sneaks out to perform anyway, delivering a breakthrough performance that stuns the audience. Her mother's pride afterward signals a turning point, but the deeper healing comes later that night in a raw conversation with her weeping father. After he finally explains the childhood cruelty that shaped his behavior, Genesis forgives him and tears up the self-hatred list she has kept for years, declaring she wants to begin again.

The defining moments driving Genesis from eviction to reconciliation.

Genesis adds items 85 and 86 to her self-hatred list after the girls call her 'Charcoal' and 'Eggplant' and abandon her.

Genesis rubs a lemon across her skin while staying at Grandma's house, hoping it will lighten her complexion overnight.

Emory plays 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' during the drive to Farmington Hills and Genesis sings along despite her anger at him.

Troy stops to help a lost Genesis find her chorus class on her first day at Farmington Oaks Middle.

Emory tells Genesis she has Mama's smile but stays silent when Genesis asks whether she too is beautiful like Mama.

Troy tells Genesis about W.E.B. DuBois and The Souls of Black Folk during tutoring, expanding her knowledge of Black history and scholars.

Mrs. Hill tells Genesis she has a gift and urges her to audition for the school talent show.

Genesis discovers Emory's hidden liquor bottles in a kitchen cabinet and pours every one of them down the sink.

Genesis cuts apart her treasured black shirt and takes a bath with bleach hoping to lighten her skin after returning from Grandma's house.

Mama reveals she was bullied as a child for being light-skinned and that Grandma told her she was 'better than most Blacks.'

Genesis visits Sophia's house for dinner and the two girls share their deepest secrets, officially becoming best friends.

Genesis stands up at the talent show auditions and sings 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' in front of a crowd for the first time.

Jason and Terrance reveal they only want Genesis to record her vocal hook and never intended to let her perform onstage.

Emory arrives at the talent show drunk and leaves immediately after Genesis finishes performing.

Mama asks Genesis if she wants to start a new list, this time recording the things she loves about herself.

While the main plot drives Genesis toward self-acceptance, many quieter but equally significant moments shape her journey. Genesis copes with repeated evictions through a growing self-hatred list and failed skin-lightening experiments, while finding unexpected warmth in a car sing-along with her father and hope in her blossoming friendships at a new school. Her tutor Troy opens her eyes to Black history and scholarship she was never taught, and Mrs. Hill plants the seed that Genesis has a singing gift worth sharing with the world. Betrayals by classmates who only want her voice sharpen her awareness of who truly values her, while Mama's revelation about her own childhood bullying reframes how Genesis understands the beauty standards in her family. The pool ends with Mama gently inviting Genesis to begin a new kind of list, one built on love instead of shame.

The quieter but equally significant moments that shaped Genesis's path.

Grandma mentions that lemons can help lighten dark spots on skin, giving Genesis her first idea for a skin-lightening method.

A classmate calls Genesis 'burnt' under his breath on her very first day at Farmington Oaks Middle School.

Genesis drapes a black shirt over her head as a makeshift wig and sings alone in her bedroom, imagining herself onstage.

Genesis discovers books featuring Black characters in the school library and checks out 'Brown Girl Dreaming.'

Yvette stands up for Genesis in chorus class when a classmate mocks her in front of the whole group.

Mama straightens Genesis's hair with a hot comb and tells her that Emory's humor and charm were what made her fall in love.

Grandma tells Genesis that her life would be less complicated if she looked more like Mama.

Nia reads a powerful original essay aloud in English class, captivating Genesis and challenging her assumptions about Nia.

During a dinner visit at Sophia's house, Sophia nervously asks if she can touch Genesis's hair.

Genesis researches bleaching cream on a school computer; Troy spots what she is looking at and is visibly disappointed.

Genesis confronts Emory on the back porch, asking why he chooses alcohol over her; he starts to say it would have been easier but stops.

Mama agrees to let Genesis stay in Farmington Hills at least until after the talent show.

Yvette puts a relaxer in Genesis's hair and gives her a full makeover; Genesis loves her new appearance for the first time.

After Genesis drops out of Yvette's talent show group, Yvette mocks the bleaching cream spots on Genesis's face and calls her names.

Mama tells Genesis she married Emory for love and never cared how dark his skin was.

Genesis's journey toward self-acceptance is built on a series of small but pivotal revelations that accumulate across the story. From Grandma casually mentioning that lemons lighten skin, to discovering a library full of books featuring Black characters, Genesis slowly encounters new ideas about identity that challenge what she has been told. Key turning points force Genesis to confront the gap between who she is and who others want her to be, including Troy's quiet disappointment at her bleaching cream, Sophia's innocent question about touching her hair, and Yvette's cruelty after Genesis stops being useful to her. Her direct confrontation with her father on the porch and her mother's confession about marrying for love rather than family tradition challenge the colorism Genesis has absorbed since childhood. By the final chapter, Mama's declaration that she chose Emory out of love, not skin tone, gives Genesis a new framework for understanding her parents and herself.