Facing a confrontation with her father that is bound to occur as a result of her scheme to redo her image, Cookie prepares to stand up for herself for the very first time in order to follow her true path in life.
After their family is torn apart by tragedies and the publicity that they brought, siblings Smithy, Jack, and Madison try to pull together and protect their brother from further media exploitation and a much more sinister threat.
Rambunctious and irrepressible Gemma has been best friends with Alice ever since they were born on the same day, so when Alice moves miles away to Scotland, Gemma is distraught to think that Alice might find a new best friend.
Two teenagers develop a friendship through letters as each confides in the other about the hardships and disappointments in their lives, but things do not turn out as they expected when they finally meet in person.
Determined to hold on to her virtue until she is married, high school senior Mary Jane finds it nearly impossible when the cutest boy in school, Jackson House, begins to flirt with her and her very first love begins to bloom.
When eleven-year-old Cat Kinsey builds a secret hideout to escape her unhappy homelife, she slowly gets to know a poor family who have come to California after losing their Texas home to the dust storms of the 1930s.
When her older brother returns home because he is dying of AIDS, thirteen-year-old Lacy deals with changes in her family life, in relationships with classmates, and in her commitment to her swimming team.
