In a small university town in the 1960s, a mysterious couple moves into the attic and keeps to themselves, leaving the neighbors to wonder what goes on behind closed doors. Through gossip and rumors, the neighbors witness the slow unraveling of Mr. Markham's life.

After their stay in a rundown boardinghouse, a boy and his mother hunt for an apartment and the boy dreams of a house with a warm fireplace of his own.

A mother struggles to provide her daughter with comfort in an unstable home as her husband constantly searches for new employment.

In an unlikely encounter, a homeless teenage boy recounts harsh events of his life to a writer. He nonchalantly tells of an employer whose assignments caused him to have permanent physical and mental damage.

Family difficulties force a young girl to live with her lonely aunt in the city. As worsening circumstances bring their relationship to a boil, a new friendship brings her unexpected solace.

A student befriends his roommate, Carter, but his loyalty falls short when the headmaster accuses him of a scandalous act committed by Carter.

Two brothers are left under the unreliable care of their alcoholic uncle when their parents leave town.

A young teen in Southern California, after several months of living on the streets, tries to rebuild her life. She suddenly disappears after six months of sobriety, leaving her family to yet again wonder if she has relapsed and returned to live on the streets again.

When the father of a college-aged girl, who works in a mail center and has taken to stealing her classmates' mail, comes to visit, he sexually assaults his daughter, as he has been doing since she was a young girl.

In inner-city 1980s Boston, a middle-school boy must care for himself and his baby half-brother when their mother runs away to Texas.