A series of vignettes in free verse in which the writer reminisces about his life as a twelve-year-old boy living in a small town during the hot summer of 1938.

Seven teens facing such problems as pregnancy, closeted homosexuality, and abuse each describe in poetic forms what caused them to leave home and where they found home again.

A series of poems reflect the thoughts of various people--town residents young and old, teachers, and some students visiting from the city--caught up in the events surrounding the murder of a beautiful high school student who had recently moved to the small lake-side community of Hudson Landing.

While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.

Unfolding in a series of exquisite narrative poems, this is the haunting true story of a tragic summer in a young girl's life. Annie is supposed to be having a carefree summer -- but instead she must face the unwanted advances of an older boy in the neighborhood, who threatens her if she tells. It isn't until Annie's mother pries out the secret that Annie is released from her horror and isolation and can slowly begin to heal.

In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.

A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of various people--students, the librarian, parents, the principal, and others--about the seemingly perfect Laura Li and her life inside and out of Tower High School.

A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting to life after her older sister has a mental breakdown.

One girl. One school year. All poems. From friends to first dates, school dances to family fights, this inspiring collection captures the emotional highs and lows of teen life with refreshing honesty and humor. Girl Coming In for a Landing is just like high school: impossible to walk away from unchanged.

Teenage Jen thinks she’s outgrown her childhood nickname of Jinx. When Jen's first boyfriend dies, she thinks she's just unlucky...but then her second boyfriend dies too. Jen is Jinx now -- a curse, a promise of bad luck, a girl who's angry and alone, who can't get close to people anymore.

Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.