Norma Fox Mazer

Ten-year-old Sprig no longer gets along with her twelve-year-old sister, Dakota, but the two pull together during their father's extended business trip to Afghanistan, sharing concerns about his safety, an elderly neighbor's health, fights with their best friends, and boys.

The sudden departure of her inseparable friend Julie for California and her own father's unexpected illness challenge many of fourteen- year-old Toni's basic assumptions about friendship and her own happy and secure life with her seemingly devoted parents.

The death of her abusive, manipulative older sister prompts seventeen-year-old Em to remember their unpleasant life together, with their parents and then later on their own.

Ami and Mia have been best friends for four years, but Ami must learn to adjust to having her mother living apart from the rest of the family after her parents divorce.

Fourteen-year-old Terri remembers only life with her father, but then she discovers that he kidnapped her from her mother after a divorce and that her mother is still alive.

After discovering her grandfather is dying, fifteen-year-old Rachel gets to know him better than ever before and finds the experience bittersweet.

When a high school senior falls in love with the girl he is supposed to be fixing up with his best friend, the ensuing experiences profoundly change the relationships each has with the others.