Stymied by her unfinished family tree assignment for school, a young girl seeks Grandma's counsel and learns about her ancestors, the consequences of slavery, and the history of Black resistance in the United States.

A young girl recounts the brave exploits of her female ancestors, including her great-great-great grandmother who came to America in a wooden sailboat.

"Wednesday Wilson is in a major funk, and the only thing that can make this day worse is that funks are contagious...and hers is rubbing off on her brother, Mister. When Wednesday discovers that the true cause of Mister's funk is having to present his family tree at the school assembly, she devises a plan to get Mister a Worry Marble that will fix all his problems. And then a crowd of kids at recess also want Worry Marbles to fix their problems, and...

A girl describes her relatives from Great-grandmother Allegra through aunts and uncles to her cousins and how she came to have her own special place on the family tree.