stepfamilies

Vincent Shadow has always been different from the other kids his age, thanks to his creative mind, which he uses to develop unique toys in his secret attic lab, and when a toy inventor offers Vincent the chance to make his dreams a reality, he realizes his creativity is what makes him special, not just strange.

Young people in stepfamilies describe how they cope with having stepbrothers, stepsisters, and stepparents and offer tips on dealing with change in your family.

Unhappy at having to share space and family with her new stepsister Michaela when her father remarries, thirteen-year-old Jamie is further dismayed when Michaela joins her volleyball team and becomes a star player.

Seventeen-year-old Leigh changes high schools his senior year to help his stepsister and finds himself falling in love with her emotionally disturbed friend, even though he is still attached to a girl back home.

Alastair, a thirteen-year-old who calls himself "Stump" because of his amputated leg, must face a summer at his wealthy but estranged father's beach house in Los Angeles, where he meets his stepmother, falls in love with a teenaged soap opera star, and decides to train for a race with a former Olympic swim coach.

Teenagers Seattle and Critter, "faux step-siblings" since Seattle's father left her with Critter's mother six-years earlier, spend the summer sorting through their romantic feelings and making decisions about what they want from life.

Fifteen-year-old Josie Jessop goes from blending into the crowd to being "White Girl" when her mother marries a First Nations man and moves them to his house on a reserve outside the city, where she must come to terms with her new home, new school, and new family amidst very few friendly faces.

Explains the complex emotions and relationships involved in the remarriage of a parent and examines relationships with stepparents and stepsiblings.

Thirteen-year-old Ellie misses curfew by going to a park with a boy she just met, gets caught lying to her father and stepmother, and is put in a dangerous situation in London by her two best friends.

Explores issues facing families confronting the challenges created by adoption and foster care, and identifies steps members of blended families can take to ensure that they have a strong foundation.