Isiah Jenkins is an ordinary kid from Atlanta, Georgia. At least he thinks this is the case, until he learns from his granddad, that he is actually from a long line of mythical beings called Guardians. Guardians are marked at birth and tied to a book that is passed down to through the men in their family. The book assigns the guardian a mission to follow and transports the guardian back in time for 30 days. As every Guardian before him, Isiah is entrusted with the task of ensuring certain events in history happen. The challenge for Isiah is going back in time during dangerous and tumultuous time periods for African Americans.

Book 1 chronicles Isiah's experience becoming a guardian and his first mission to Cleveland, Ohio during 1922. Isiah's mission is to convince Garrett Morgan not to give up on inventing a new patent for the traffic light. Readers will enjoy the adventure of the Guardians of History as they travel along with the Isiah to see if he completes his first mission.