When we left Joseph "Jay Gee" Graham, he had overcome his bullies with the help of his family, his crew, and his mentor; Mr. Thompson. He went on to become the only underclassman on his basketball team and won the heart of his beloved Lanesha. He had begun to accept himself and his difference. However, at the end of the school year, it was announced: Due to the law to desegregate all public schools, West Side High would be closed. All the kids on the West Side of the railroad tracks must attend school on the East Side. Integrated Schools had come to Reservoir City. Knowing at the white school the odds will be stacked against him to make the basketball team, his ticket out of that cesspool of a town and fulfill his promise to his Mama is looking more uncertain than ever. With his brother and confidant Lavelle off at war, his best friend Benny Lee in Juvie, and no word from Lanesha; he's alone, isolated, wondering if all the marching and protest was worth it. Amidst all the confusion, Jay Gee is finally told the family secret concerning him which complicates matters even more. Faced with a crisis in their home, neighborhood, adolescence, and now integrated school, Jay Gee and the crew must choose between the culture-stripping new school environment or join Reservoir City's New Underworld growing around them and tracing the steps of their daily walk Over the Tracks.
