Too young to be square... Too tough to be shocked... Too late to be saved.
"Cry-Baby" Wade Walker is Baltimore's resident Drape. He and his gang, disfigured "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski, pregnant sister Pepper, Hatchet's boyfriend Milton Hackett, and sexually active Wanda Woodward, are the fear in most Baltimore residents' lives. One day after school, after getting an intense polio vaccine, Cry-Baby falls in love with Allison Vernon-Williams, a pretty "Square" equally in love with him. But Allison's grandmother and boyfriend Baldwin are disgusted by her love for Cry-Baby.
Cry-Baby and Allison use their love to bring the Squares and Drapes together.