social isolation

"In this collection of literary slice-of-life horror, five stories explore what happens when one is desperate enough to seek solace and connection in the world of monsters and darkness"-- Provided by publisher.

Wherever Rain Boy goes, rain follows, and when he is invited to Sun Kidd's birthday party the other children complain that his presence is ruining their fun; now Sun Kidd is hiding in her room because she is upset by her friends' behavior, and an apparently an endless storm has descended on the world--until they all discover that something wonderful happens when rain and sun finally get together.

Raymond Jaffe helps out his blind ninety-two-year-old Jew neighbor when she needs help tracking down a missing person. He learns that she is afraid of the bigotry in the community and isolates herself. Raymond helps her see the kindness still in the world, while she helps him see there's still hope if you have someone to hold on to.

"Gisele, a fragile, strong, transparent girl, . . . denounces the meanness that can mark life in the world"--Provided by publisher.

"A woman is dying. Cleo Porter has her medicine. And no way to deliver it. Like everyone else, twelve-year-old Cleo and her parents are sealed in an apartment without windows or doors. They never leave. They never get visitors. Their food is dropped off by drones. So they're safe. Safe from the disease that nearly wiped humans from the earth. Safe from everything. The trade-off? They're alone. Thus, when they receive a package clearly meant for someone else--a package containing a substance critical for a stranger's survival--Cleo is stuck. As a surgeon-in-training, she knows the clock is ticking. But people don't leave their units"--From the publisher's web site.

In the late 1970s in rural Maine, seven-year-old Asta Hewitt and her brother are convinced by their delusional mother that the world outside their home is a wasteland, and when her mother disappears, Asta has the opportunity to venture beyond her comfort zone.

Sixteen-year-old Alex feels so disconnected from his friends that he starts his junior year at a Tuscaloosa, Alabama, high school by attempting suicide, but soon, a friend of his older brother draws him into cross-country running and a new understanding of himself.

Shares insights into the teen transgender experience, tracing six individual's emotional and physical journey as it was shaped by family dynamics, living situations, and the transition each teen made during the personal journey.

"Ellie Sokoloff is attending Ventana Ranch School in Big Sur because she hopes that the wide-open setting will cure her claustrophobia and she was delighted to find Eliza Hart, her childhood friend, also in attendance. But Eliza has changed and for no apparent reason starts spreading rumors about Ellie, until one day she is found dead--now Ellie must find out what happened to her one-time best friend, and who killed her, not least because she herself is everybody's chief suspect"--Provided by publisher.

Sixteen-year-old Alex feels so disconnected from his friends that he starts his junior year at a Tuscaloosa, Alabama, high school by attempting suicide, but soon, a friend of his older brother draws him into cross-country running and a new understanding of himself.