A rhyming text tells the story of Emmy, who uses the excuse that she is "only 3" to avoid being punished for misbehaving. Eventually the family catches on to her pouting and tantrums and she is sent to her room to ponder her behavior.
Piano-prodigy Isabella, eleven, whose black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged, and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police.