Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy's pregnancy, friend Sebastian's coming out, her father's meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity.

Discovering a book of Langston Hughes' poetry in the library helps Langston cope with the loss of his mother, relocating from Alabama to Chicago as part of the Great Migration, and being bullied.

Gabby loves expressing herself--especially in the dance studio--but lately, poetry is becoming her art from of choice. Gabby struggles with stuttering, and spoken word poetry helps her speech flow more freely. When the city threatens to close her beloved community arts center, Gabby is detemined to find a way to help. Can she rally her community and harness the power of her words to save the community arts center?