Melanie Stan­wood is a bril­liant girl, near­ly a genius. She can take iso­lat­ed facts and bits of data and make con­nec­tions. But she can’t seem to make a con­nec­tion with her moth­er, because Melanie was born as a boy named Michael. Her moth­er can’t quite grasp what it means to have a trans­gen­der child, and they live in an awk­ward, uneasy truce.

Things can’t con­tin­ue that way, so Melanie is sent to live with her mother’s only friend Mar­i­lyn, a glam­orous divor­cée and wid­ow who turns out to be a bit of a genius her­self at mak­ing con­nec­tions. Togeth­er with her daugh­ter Car­ol, Mar­i­lyn con­nects Melanie to the world of girls, a world that right­ful­ly should have been hers from birth.