The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Woodson, Jacqueline. Red at the Bone. Riverhead Books, 2019.

Red at the Bone opens with Melody getting ready for her sixteenth birthday celebration. As Melody and her mother get ready for the ceremony, it clear that there are tensions between the two characters. They go back and forth about Iris having Melody at such age and whether she "regret[s] the hell out of [her]" (7). As the crowd watches Melody descend down the stairs, she thinks about her history, and knows that she is "a narrative, someone's almost forgotten story" (19). As Aubrey sees his daughter descend the stairs, he remembers his childhood and learning about his father.

Chapter 3 opens with Iris at Oberlin college. She picked Oberlin because it was "far away from everybody needing some part of her," but she is still struggling at school. She recalls Sabe, her mother, discovering her pregnancy. Although she adamantly wanted to keep the child, she realizes that this is at odds with what she really wants in life. After this, the scene changes to Melody's grandfather, Po’Boy, holding Melody as a baby. He is conflicted by both the joy he feels at having Melody as a granddaughter and the childhood that his daughter Iris gave away while so young. He reflects on finding out about Iris’s pregnancy and admits that "there's so much in this great big world that you don't have a single ounce of control over" (49). However, he is glad that the world brought Melody into his life.

While at school, Iris misses Melody and cherishes the photographs that her parents send of her daughter. A girl, Jamison, notices the picture and tells Iris that she has a cute sister. In Chapter 6, Aubrey is bringing Iris home for the first time after losing his virginity to her. Aubrey reflects on the love he has for his mother, but is upset to find her in the dark, watching Opera and crying. When Aubrey goes to introduce Iris, he is very aware of his poor surroundings. He realizes that they had always been "clinging to living" (76).

Sabe introduces herself as a character in Chapter 7 by telling the reader "if you want to survive, you have to put money everywhere" (79). Melody's grandmother describes the Tulsa race riots of 1921, in which Sabe’s mother almost died. The event in Tulsa clearly struck Sabe, as it informs much of her thinking throughout the novel. She reflects on the struggle that came with learning of Iris’s pregnancy. But despite this, she decides to rise. She is happy with her and Po’Boy’s life, and tells the reader that hidden under the staircase is bars of gold. In the following chapter, Po'Boy talks about his childhood and meeting Sabe for the first time. The two were married in July of 1967 in Chicago. Their first son, Benjamin, died when he was a baby, and this loss prompted them to move to New York.

Chapter 9 opens with Iris having a bad dream in college of Aubrey's mom burning. This makes her remember when CathyMarie helped her study for school. They met at the library, and CathyMarie tells her that as she's pregnant with her grandchild, she will not allow her "grandchild's mother to be [a] high school dropout" (111). Later, Iris describes walking with Melody and Aubrey at Coney Island, spreading CathyMarie's ashes.

The novel takes a drastic turn when Melody gives the reader a vision of a day at school that ends with the attack on the Twin Towers and, subsequently, her father’s death. Chapter 11 opens with Aubrey and the family discussing how to get Iris to Oberlin. Aubrey constantly asks why she chose Oberlin, and when she leaves, Melody cried "like the world was breaking" (126). During her freshman year, Iris called Aubrey to tell him about the dream about his mother. At the end of their conversation, Aubrey is struck once again with the understanding that Iris was “gone” from his life (129). Chapter 12 describes the birth of Melody, a painful experience for Iris. Once she is born, however, Iris is terrified by the realization that she created something permanent with consequences. When she returned home from the hospital, Iris began applying for colleges. Ignoring Melody’s cries, she continued to pursue her ambitions.

Later, Aubrey reflects on when he is fifteen years old and finds out about Iris's pregnancy. He is presented with a decision to pursue "the game” of drug dealing, but decides against it (149). Melody and Aubrey walk throughout Manhattan together, and it is clear that the two of them have a very strong and loving relationship. During this time, Iris is living on the Upper West Side. Aubrey remembers his apartment he shared with his mother, and hopes that Melody would never have calloused hands, a sign, he thinks, of poverty.

Chapter 16 opens with Iris waking up next to Jamison after being intimate with her. She thinks she is in love, describing it as "wanting someone with all the senses" (160). She falls back asleep and wakes up with Jamison close to her breast, which starts leaking. Jam is confused, and Iris eventually confesses to being a mother. Chapter 17 moves forward to after Melody’s celebration. She is with Malcolm and as he helps undress her, Melody admits to knowing that he is "gay as hell" (172). They climb into bed and talk about sexuality.

In Chapter 18, Sabe reminisces about Po'Boy and Aubrey. She talks about how difficult it was to watch Po'Boy deteriorate from cancer. She also reflects on her own coming-of-age ceremony. In Chapter 19, Iris deals with her parting from Jamison. She also describes her first time having sex when she was thirteen with a boy she thought she loved.

In the final chapter, Melody and Iris are in the house after Sabe's funeral. Iris reflects on the time that has passed and Aubrey's death, feeling a closeness to her ancestral roots to Tulsa. Looking at Melody, she "sees for the first in a long time herself in the girl. In the way she lifts her head" (195). Together, the two of them break open the step which hides Sabe’s gold.