A child describes having two different houses in which to live, "my mother's house" and "my father's house," and what it is like to travel back and forth between them.
Shy and unremarkable, seventeen-year-old Matt Lathrop is surprised and flattered to find himself singled out for the sexual attentions of the alluring Skye Colbly, until he discovers the evil purpose behind her actions.
Rooster is failing out of Winston High School, in trouble with his mother and his girlfriend, and in danger of not graduating, until his guidance counselor and the principal come up with a plan to get him through the twelfth grade.
Two ninth graders, Clara and Amos, suddenly find their lives turned upside down by their families, by each other, and by the two meanest brothers in town.