fatherless families

Thirteen-year-old Berry Jackson, just beginning to grapple with issues of love and sexuality, is further confused when her father disappears--along with the local teenage beauty--when a hurricane rips through small Pinetta, Florida, her mom takes up with a wealthy businessman, and she develops a crush on a young convict who has come to help rebuild the town.

After Simone's father dies, Simone examines how her mother, brothers, neighbors, and community deal with his death, not realizing she is avoiding her own grief.

Michael Smolij is forced to grow up fast when his father leaves--like so many other families in his Detroit neighborhood--and he takes a job at the mall, enrolls in classes at the community college, and tries to make a life for himself.

Martha Tod Dudman discusses how she dealt with her daughter's drug addiction.

Since his father's disappearance and his move from a safe neighborhood, eleven-year-old Sam gets help from his new school's janitor and other adult friends in dealing with frightening new experiences.

Working-class Dublin woman Agnes Browne and her clan of seven children must cope after their tenement is demolished in this novel about the humor and heartache of Irish family life.

Agnes Browne struggles to raise her five children after her husband dies, leaving her destitute in Dublin.

Frustrated by his poor financial situation and hoping to impress a smart girl, seventh grader Trino falls in with a bad crowd led by an older teen with a vicious streak.

Zaki Shirazi, a fatherless boy, is raised in contemporary Pakistan along with his female cousin, Samar, while surrounded by outspoken women, and as the cousins grow up and their lives diverge, they learn about the nature of happiness, selfhood, and commitment.