The novel begins with a short introduction from Birdie’s point of view that summarizes the story’s main conflict: her loss of identity when forced to pass as white. Birdie describes how quickly it happened: “One day I was here, the next I was gone” (1). Birdie feels fundamentally uprooted; not only did she lose the identity she knew, she felt as if she disappeared entirely, with no identity to replace it. She vividly describes driving down the highway with her mother and how she felt disoriented.

The introduction describes the novel’s Boston setting. Birdie says her story took place “back when Boston still came in black and white, yellowing around the edges” (1). This sentence emphasizes the racial binary that characterizes the novel and the protagonist’s experience. It also emphasizes how different places to which Birdie travels throughout the novel have different racial dynamics.