Starr Carter is a sixteen year old girl who is in the midst of two worlds: Her neighbourhood, Garden Heights, and Williamson, the private school she attends. Starr's neighbourhood is a place where gangs, drugs and crime are often at the forefront. Williamson is the antithesis to that. Although Garden Heights is filled with violence and things might appear to be all sinister, people care about each other and look out for one another. There's a warmth and sense of home and community. Although Starr loves her home, she's torn between these two versions of herself. She calls the school version of herself 'Starr version 2.' At Williamson, Starr's afraid if she acts 'too black' she'll be labelled ghetto. And in Garden Heights, she can't act too 'Williamson.' When Starr goes to a party with her friend Kenya, she sees her childhood friend, Khalil, whom she hasn't seen in a long time. The two catch up and everything's going gr