Stephanie's relationship with her best friend, Rachel, changes during her first year in junior high as she tries to conceal a family problem and meets a new girl from California.

A summer in Tarrytown, New York, is a lot of fun for ten-year-old Sheila even though her friends make her face up to some self-truths she does not want to admit.

Unable to accept or explain his family's newly acquired wealth, his growing interest in sex, and a friend's shoplifting habit, a thirteen-year-old finds the pains in his stomach getting worse and worse.