"Laurie Boyle Crompton’s coming of age in rural Pennsylvania and the New York City area in the 1970s and 1980s was anything but idyllic. In moving verse accompanied by diary-esque sketches, Crompton takes you along as she navigates relationships, plays the happy family at church despite discord at home, manages her mother’s ambitions and her father’s alcoholism, struggles with her self-image, and desperately tries to fit in at...

This story explores the lives of sixteen-year-olds Denim Mitchell and Andre Patterson, who have shared an intense bond ever since they were kids. Denim yearns to date Andre, known by his friends as Dre. However, Denim's parents are doing everything in their power to keep the heat of the passion between the two teens under wraps. Dre, a rising basketball star and budding artist, has a glorious future ahead of him. Unfortunately, rumor has it that he's...

Jumping double-dutch is 12-year-old Tiffany's favorite pastime. She's the most talented jumper at her school, incorporating flips and stunts into her routine. All that practice has made her the best in the mid-state area, good enough to enter into an upcoming competition. Then suddenly, her demeanor changes and she stops jumping rope altogether. Her mother, who wasn't thrilled about Tiffany's obsession in the first place, easily accepts her excuse...

After seventeen-year-olds Patrice and DeMario spend one careless night together, they find themselves anticipating a child, and more pressure is added when they learn the unborn child faces life-threatening complications.