Set in wealthy community in Northern Michigan, RISING is the story of nine-year-old Symone who is mysteriously adopted by the Hustons - a "shameless family with a house at the top of the hill"- after her mother dies of a drug overdose. Although Symone is all too happy to leave the Dorchester projects behind, she can't help but wonder why this rich white couple would come to the ghetto to adopt a "black girl who looked white". Soon Symone discovers that the Hustons aren't her saviours, but instead have delivered her into another kind of hell. Years later, she escapes only to return again, realising that she must face the demons of her past if she has any hope of surviving the future.