Paul "Eclipse Boy" Fisher and his family have just moved to Tangerine. It's in Florida, but it seems like a hostile alien planet. Lightning does strike twice and underground fires burn on forever, lending an ominous air to life in their walled housing complex. But this is only the tip of the iceberg; the really frightening problems are inside Paul's own family.

Charlie is smart, shy, and socially inept. In other words, he's a wallflower, observing life from the outside instead of participating. He shares his troubles in a series of excruciatingly honest letters to an unknown recipient. For all the outsiders - and all whose curiosity has been tantalized by the contents of other people's mail.

The year is 1290. Catherine, known to her family as "Birdy", is thirteen years old. Even for a gentleman's daughter, life is not easy. Catherine is beset by troubles: fleas, smells, household chores, and horrible brothers. But the worst is yet to come: she is threatened with a speedy marriage to a foul old fool of her father's choosing. Bright, independent, resourceful, and articulate, Catherine may be sold to the highest bidder, but she will not suffer silently.

Julian doesn't have much of a life. His family is poor and constantly on the move. His parents are abusive. He has no friends. His only refuge is in his notebooks, notebooks written in code because the words are too hard, too ugly to say. Welcome to Julian's private world.

Harlem in the 60's. Jazmin sits on her stoop, recording poetry amidst the harsh realities of inner city life and dreaming of being a famous writer. As she says herself: "Looks like my dreams and I will have to fight for space. But that's okay. I was born with clenched fists".

When Tish has to keep a journal for her English class, Mrs Dunphrey assures her that the entries will not be read without her permission. Tish begins to pour out many deep dark family secrets. What will happen if Mrs Dunphrey reads the diary? What will happen if she doesn't?

A girl raised by dolphins from the age of four is "rescued" and taught to be human again. Mila is fascinated by life on land and eager to learn all her new "family" can teach her. However, Mila's joy in the discovery of language, music and human contact is dimmed by the fear and dishonesty she finds in the human community. Increasingly, Mila hears the siren call of the sea, beckoning her home.

Tru has dreams: a cure for her developmentally delayed brother, Eddie, and a chance to be on television. When the local cable network holds a teen video competition, Tru sees a way to make both dreams come alive. However, making a video about Eddie forces Tru to think about her brother, and her relationship with him. Is a cure what either of them really needs?

Adrian is the bold, adventurous kind of guy who experiments with glue-sniffing... and ends up in emergency with a model airplane stuck to his nose. It isn't easy being Adrian. His parents are splitting up; his hot-and-cold girlfriend Pandora wants him to be a Marxist revolutionary but he is sent home from school just for wearing red socks. Will Adrian survive his teens?

Melanin's is a family of two. For as long as he can remember, it's just been him and his mother, friends as much as family. Now there is someone new in his mother's life, unexpected and unwelcome. Melanin lives out his confusion about their relationship, his dreams of a maybe girlfriend, Angie, and the poetry of everyday life in New York through his notebooks.