Kya Clark, otherwise known as the Marsh Girl by the townspeople of Barkley Cove, is mysterious and wild. Abandoned by her family, Where the Crawdads Sing is a coming of age story of a young girl raised by the marshlands of the south in the 50's. Watching many years past, when the town hotshot is found dead, and inexplicably linked to Kya, the Marsh Girl is the prime suspect in his murder case.

Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the boys wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.