Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret; She can't read.
A timid and socially alienated 17-year-old high school student's life is turned upside down when she switches places with her sinister mirror image.
A reporter returns to his Florida hometown to investigate a case involving a death row inmate.
