single-parent families

Ten-year-old Jake forms an unexpected bond with his estranged grandfather after his mother's injury puts the pair together in time for the Christmas holiday.

Denim Mitchell, having been selected as an after-school tutor, works with fourteen-year-old Julius Graham and tries to convince him to do that right thing after he witnesses a crime, but refuses to talk because he is concerned about his safety.

Starting a new school year, everything is "easy-peasy, simple-pimple" for Charlie until her strict teacher assigns a tough school project and Charlie's mother loses her job.

When motherless Alice turns thirteen she feels in-between, no longer a child but not yet a woman, and discovers that growing up can be both frustrating and wonderful.

Sixteen-year-olds Serena and Kori look alike but have opposite personalities and live very different lives in Kismet, Colorado, but when tragedy strikes, Serena decides to complete Kori's list of "5 Secret Things" and uncovers, in the process, the mystery that has bound them together.

When almost-nine-year-old Carson Blum and his father move to Northern California, he is worried about adjusting to his new, large, public school and finding friends.

Nine-year-old Terrel Liu tries to sabotage her father's new relationship with the aunt of her ballet class nemesis.

Fifth grade is tumultuous for Alice as she tries to help others through the many changes occurring at home and in school, including learning about sex when Rosalind gets her period and shares a book that explains what is happening.

When her father accepts a job as girls' basketball coach in another town, fifth-grader Laurie reluctantly leaves old friends and teammates and faces new challenges with a new basketball team at a new school.

When fourteen-year-old Zachary and his father move to Falls, Connecticut, he spends a summer falling in love, coming to terms with his mother's absence, and forming eclectic friendships.