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The protagonist, Xiomara, is a fifteen-year-old Dominican American about to start tenth grade. Xiomara is tall and curvy, and as she sits on the stoop in front of her Brooklyn home, her developing, shapely body earns her unwanted sexual attention from the men and drug dealers on her street. Xiomara’s mother, Mami, insists it is Xiomara’s fault that men look at her.
Xiomara lives with her mother, Mami, her father, Papi, and her brother, Xavier, whom Xiomara calls Twin. Mami is a devout Catholic who insists that her children be raised in the same faith. Mami demands that Xiomara attend Catholic church and go through confirmation class with Father Sean. Xiomara questions the faith, especially what she sees as patriarchal misogyny. She also questions whether the Bible should be read literally instead of metaphorically and sees no evidence of God’s interest in or love for her.
Mami doesn’t share her daughter’s skepticism. Church and faith are important to Mami, who wanted to be a nun before she was forced by her family to marry Papi so she could emigrate to the United States. Their marriage was rocky, with Papi known in the Harlem neighborhood as a womanizer and cheater. Mami struggled to get pregnant and considers Xiomara and Twin to be miracles not only because she had children as an older parent but also because Papi stopped drinking and chasing other women after the children were born.
Though Xiomara loved feeling like her Mami’s little miracle when she was a child, her maturation as a young woman causes strain in her relationship with Mami, who wants Xiomara to remain pure. Xiomara is hurt by her mother’s inability to see her authentically. The pressure of being her mother’s miracle gift from God adds stress to Xiomara’s complex inner world as Xiomara cannot see her life as a gift if she may not live it as she wants.
Xiomara begins confirmation class at the same time she starts tenth grade. The confirmation classes are frustrating for Xiomara as she cannot do what Father Sean directs and come to the faith of her own free will, of her own volition, a word she contemplates heavily. Xiomara ultimately decides not to take communion as the gesture feels inauthentic given her concerns. Her denial of the eucharist infuriates Mami and adds strain to their increasingly tenuous relationship.
In school, however, Xiomara has Ms. Galiano for English. She is a tough teacher, but she impresses and inspires Xiomara and encourages her to join the poetry club. Xiomara’s teacher gives her writing assignments. For each assignment, Xiomara writes a rough draft and a final draft. Xiomara’s rough drafts are always deep and insightful. She writes about family secrets and difficult or uncomfortable experiences. The draft that Xiomara hands in, the final draft, is always on the same topic as her rough draft, but the story, while true, is less revealing of her personal background and unseemly family secrets.
When Xiomara is paired with a boy named Aman as a lab partner, the two talk. Eventually, Xiomara agrees to go to the smoke park to listen to music with Aman, and her crush flourishes. Aman asks her to read her poetry to him, and he is kind and patient with her even as he gently pushes boundaries with her physically. Their relationship quickly progresses from hand-holding to kissing. She also thinks about Aman as she pleasures herself alone at night but feels guilty about it despite how much she enjoys it.
Meanwhile, Twin is also secretly texting someone, and while Xiomara knows her parents would not be angry if Twin was seeing a girl, she suspects the person he’s messaging all night is a boy. One day Twin comes home from his school with a black eye, refusing to talk about it. When Xiomara goes to his school to confront whoever hit him, she sees Twin with a boy she immediately understands is his boyfriend. Twin never comes out to his parents, who would not approve, and both he and Xiomara continue keeping their relationships secret.
One day, while Xiomara believes her mother is at work, she and Aman go ice skating. They share a passionate kiss on the train ride home. When Xiomara gets home, she hears Mami yelling and realizes Mami saw her and Aman kissing on the train. Before Twin can help Xiomara escape, Mami drags Xiomara to her Virgin Mary altar and makes her kneel on uncooked rice. Mami beats her and calls her a whore. Papi does not intervene.
Sore and heartbroken the next day at school, Xiomara gets groped by a boy in front of Aman, and she looks to him for protection. When he doesn’t defend her, Xiomara, hurt by having to always be her own savior, stands up to the boy who touched her and tells Aman to stay away from her, too. At church, Mami forces Xiomara to confess her sins to Father Sean, who tells Mami that Xiomara is not ready for confirmation. Mami is furious and blames Xiomara.
Because she does not have to be at confirmation class, Xiomara attends poetry club meetings at Ms. Galiano’s urging, where she meets Isabelle and other writers. Xiomara reads one of her poems aloud. When she tells her best friend Caridad about poetry club, Caridad arranges for Xiomara and Twin to join her at a poetry slam open mic. Although she’s scared, Xiomara reads aloud and wants to do it again when her spoken word poem is well-received.
Xiomara spends all her winter break writing new poems in her notebook. After school begins again, Twin gives Xiomara a new notebook for her birthday. Xiomara realizes at school she left her old notebook at home. After school, Mami is waiting with Xiomara’s notebook, furious about the things Xiomara wrote about her, church, and boys. Mami burns the notebook while praying aloud. Xiomara responds by reciting her poetry over Mami’s prayers. Finally, Papi takes the destroyed notebook away, and Twin holds Mami back as Xiomara flees.
Xiomara calls Aman for help. He meets her and takes her back to his apartment, where they come close to having sex before Xiomara asks Aman to stop. She expects Aman to be angry and tell her to leave, but he comforts her, and they go to sleep. The next day at school, Ms. Galiano confronts Xiomara, who tells her everything and says she will talk to Mami. Xiomara, Caridad, and Twin go to Father Sean for help. He counsels the family, and Xiomara signs up for a poetry slam. Her parents and Father Sean attend. Xiomara finally feels somewhat supported by her parents.
