When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II, a twelve-year-old white boy, blinded by a blow on the head, and an old black man are stranded on a small desert island in the Caribbean where the boy acquires a new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old companion.

Two teenage girls discover that their friendship is no longer the refuge it once was.

Trudy loves Tom but isn't sure how to make him understand that she isn't ready for the intimate relationship he demands.

Abyssinia Jackson must learn to cope with tragedy when peace is shattered in her Oklahoma countryside and her boyfriend Carl Lee disappears.

A boy's parents leave him behind when they become fugitives due to their antiwar protest bombings. Eight years later, his mother reappears and he must decide what direction his life must take.

A high school junior who is having trouble dealing with his father's death, his mother's new job as a stripper, and his own libido meets a new girl who, despite their ups and downs, makes life seem pretty wonderful after all.

Deeply self-conscious about her severe asthma attacks, high school student Keller Parrish finds solace in the company of an attractive but mysterious boy at a remote pond, unaware that he is an insubstantial echo of a forty-year-old tragedy.