Content Warning: The source material contains descriptions of child neglect, abuse, trauma, and child death.

Georgie Burgess is seven and a half years old and lives in Tampa, Florida, with his mother, Rennie. Georgie is in first grade but struggles with reading, and his teacher, Miss Cressman, is frustrated with what she perceives as his lack of trying. Miss Cressman also doesn’t like Georgie because he once set a fire under her car. The librarian, Miss Ames, is kind to Georgie and lets him repeatedly check out the same book about flowers. Though Georgie struggles to read words, he loves looking at the flora in the picture book, which helps him escape his painful reality. At home, Georgie often hides in his bed or the alleyway outside his apartment. Rennie abuses alcohol and neglects Georgie’s care. His clothes are dirty, he doesn’t bathe regularly, and he often doesn’t have enough to eat. Georgie’s mother’s boyfriend, Steve, physically and mentally abuses Georgie, leaving him with painful wounds on his face and back, which make concentrating at school difficult. When school officials ask him about his injuries, he lies, claiming he got into a fight.