In Mallory, New York, as five sisters, aged eleven to seventeen, deal with assorted problems, conflicts, fears, and yearnings, a mysterious middle-aged man watches them, fascinated, deciding which one he likes the best.

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.

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

After joining his two best friends in a spontaneous attack on a girl at their school, sixteen-year-old Rollo finds that his life is changed forever.

The more things change, the more Ami wishes they'd stay exactly the same. Ami and her best friend, Mia, share almost everything - even the letters in their names! But when Ami's mom and dad separate and her mom moves out, even all of the traditions she and Mia share can't put her family back together. Ami wants everything to go back to the way it was - for her mother not to live in an apartment and have a life of her own, and for her dad not to go...

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

A friendless girl, teased mercilessly at school because her uncle manages the town dump, finds a friend in Mrs. Fish, the school custodian, and gradually life becomes more bearable.