The author’s mother takes her young children to a nearby garbage dump to forage when they have no money to eat. They are enterprising about finding housewares and furniture, but one day, the author finds a dead black baby girl in the dump. He is shocked by the way black lives are regarded as useless. The baby in the dump symbolizes the way in which his life—and those of his siblings—appear to be worthless to the world around them, as they live in poverty and with constant hunger. However, his mother, who refuses to bring them back to the dump, fights for a better life for the author and his siblings. 

Mrs. Smith, Granny’s employer, gives the author a copy of this book when he visits her house. This is the first real book he has owned, other than comic books, and it opens his mind to the possibilities of reading. The “treasure” in the title is symbolic, as reading and education and their power are the true treasures that the author has discovered through this fortuitous gift. The author’s increasing knowledge of English, which he first gains from reading and later from listening to the radio, is his ticket to freedom.