problem families

Rain's dreams of becoming a famous actress are threatened by her family's dark secrets.

Lonely without her grandmother and ex-boyfriend, sad about the troubles in her parents' marriage, and struggling with anxiety after nearly being raped, Darcy Willis learns that one of her friends is hiding a difficult secret.

Following a car accident that left her with epilepsy, twelve-year-old Chula--with a little help from a visiting fearsome Mexican boxer--tries to deal with the repercussions her new condition has on her family, neighborhood, and school.

In London, England, twelve-year-old Joe discovers that his grandmother is not just physically repulsive and horribly mean, she is also involved in an evil plot against him, but the adults around them fail to see behind her mask.

Plagued with her mother's bad judgment in choosing boyfriends, fifteen-year-old Danielle is in denial about her boyfriend Reid, but when her best friend Ashley convinces Danielle to go on a road trip away from the mess of her life Danielle finds herself driving across Michigan in a stolen car.

Fifteen-year-old Mick recalls a series of betrayals and other life-changing events at home, school, and during the break-up with his girlfriend, and considers how those troubles led to his arrest for murder.

Seventeen-year-old Christy, sad since her father's death, ignored by her mother, and abused by her drug-dealing half-brother, finds friends who help her learn to stand up for herself and move past the old hurts and fears that are keeping her down.

Sixteen-year-old Anooshka Stargirl, whose homelife is less than rosy, meets a rock singer named Orpheus and finds her obsession with him drawing her into his world.

Seventeen-year-old Pattyn, the eldest daughter in a large Mormon family, is sent to her aunt's Nevada ranch for the summer where she temporarily escapes her alcoholic, abusive father and finds love and acceptance, only to lose everything when she returns home.