In 1987, Claireece Precious Jones is an obese, illiterate 16-year-old girl who lives in Harlem, New York, with her abusive mother Mary. Precious is a few months pregnant with her second child, the product of her father raping her; he is also the father of her first child (who has Down syndrome). When her school discovers the pregnancy, it is decided that she should attend an alternative school. Precious is furious, but the counselor later visits her home and convinces her to enter an alternative school, located in the Hotel Theresa, called Higher Education Alternative Each One Teach One.
Precious enrolls in the school, despite her mother's insistence that she apply for welfare. She meets her teacher, Ms. Blu Rain, and fellow students Rhonda, Jermaine, Rita, Jo Ann, and Consuelo. All of the girls come from troubled backgrounds. Ms. Rain's class is a pre-GED class for young women who are below an eighth-grade level in reading and writing and therefore are unprepared for high school-level courses. They start off by learning the basics of phonics and vocabulary building. Despite their academic deficits, Ms. Rain ignites a passion in her students for literature and writing. She believes that the only way to learn to write is to write every day. Each girl is required to keep a journal. Ms. Rain reads their entries and provides feedback and advice. By the time the novel ends, the women have created an anthology of autobiographical stories called "LIFE STORIES – Our Class Book" appended to the book. The works of classic African-American writers such as Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and Langston Hughes are inspirational for the students. Precious is particularly moved by Walker's The Color Purple.
While in the hospital giving birth to her son Abdul Jamal Louis Jones, Precious tells a social worker that her first child is living with her grandmother. The confession leads to Precious' mother having her welfare taken away. When Precious returns home with Abdul, her enraged mother chases her out of the house. Homeless and alone, she first passes a night at the armory, then turns to Ms. Rain, who uses all of her resources to get Precious into a halfway house with childcare. Her new environment provides her the stability and support to continue school. The narrative prose, told from Precious' voice, continually improves in terms of grammar and spelling and is even peppered with imagery and similes. Precious has taken up poetry and is eventually awarded the mayor's office's literacy award for outstanding progress. The accomplishment boosts her spirits.
As her attitude changes and her confidence grows, Precious thinks about having a boyfriend and a real relationship with someone near her age who attracts her interest. Her only sexual experience thus far has been rape and sexual abuse by her mother and father. As she tries to move beyond her traumatic childhood and distance herself from her parents, her mother announces that her father has died from AIDS. Testing verifies that Precious is HIV positive, but her children are not. Her classmate Rita encourages Precious to join a support group and an HIV-positive group. The meetings provide a source of support and friendship for Precious and the revelation that her color and socioeconomic background did not necessarily cause her abuse. Women of all ages and backgrounds attend the meetings. The book concludes with no specific fate outlined for Precious; the author leaves her future undetermined.
