Mandisa is a bright black girl torn between two worlds. Every morning she wakes up, takes the bus, and sees the broken concrete in her poor inner-city neighborhood transform into the tree lined streets at Belmont, the private and mostly white school that she attends.The neighborhood kids think she's stuck up. Her peers at private school think she's stupid. Mandisa struggles with how to fit in. Plus Toni, her local neighborhood bully, doesn't make life any easier. Mandisa chronicles her thoughts in her journal to keep her head on straight. Suddenly, a budding relationship threatens the loss of the one thing that has been consistent in her life - family. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, Mandisa must find her voice and decide where she belongs.