Ten stories by such notable authors as Richard Peck, Chris Crutcher, and Chris Lynch, each of which presents the life of a teenager in a different decade of the twentieth century, accompanied by a brief description of the historical and cultural highlights of that decade.

Seventeen authors, at the invitation of the editor, wrote these stories especially for this collection featuring teenagers in America from various ethnic backgrounds.

Will Lansa visits his father, who is the tribal police chief on the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona, and learns about some sacred Hopi traditions while he helps investigate several murders.

Lucy, a fourteen-year-old high school freshman, experiences the happiness and confusion of dating a popular older boy, changing relationships with life-long friends, and sharing a bedroom with her older brother's pregnant girlfriend.

Seventeen-year-old Kate hopes for romance when her older brother's friend Richard comes to stay at their house during Christmas vacation.

Despite years of abuse at the hands of her drunken father, Baby Girl has always believed that she was special, partly because of her "gift" of seeing the future, until she and her mother set out to begin a new life on their own.

A collection of poems by women from all walks of life and from all times and places.

When Cornelia's mother runs off with a boyfriend, leaving her with an eccentric aunt, Cornelia must finally confront the truth about herself and her mother.

After running away from her fifth foster home, Holly, a twelve-year-old orphan, travels across the country, keeping a journal of her experiences and struggle to survive.

Fourteen-year-old Claire, a victim of child abuse, gradually finds love in the world with the help of two unlikely friends.