A nerdy high school senior harbors a crush on her now-popular childhood best friend as she babysits his younger brother. When a plane crashes near their school and she lies and says she saw it, her crush takes an interest in her after years of ignoring her.

In contemporary times, a fifteen-year-old creative writing whiz is sent to a gifted creatives summer camp in Massachusetts, where he meets a young male trombonist. As the two become friends and the writer gets to know the trombonist’s family and their troubles, he turns the trombonist and his dying sister into novel characters. Everything changes when the trombonist discovers the writer’s manuscript.

Three boys navigate their youth in Chicago, but are forced to grow up quickly when they start cooking drugs for money.

A young girl talks about her friend who has a mother having an affair. The girl and her friend engage in their own scandalous behavior for fun and live for the thrill.

A single father overcome with grief from his wife's death attempts to find solace through media attention, but consequently becomes less and less aware of the needs of his son.

When two sisters and their best friend befriend the new boys in their rural town, the girls' thoughts shift from make-believe to the realties of puberty.

A hardworking Jewish family is assaulted by a local gang for their beliefs, resulting in the destruction of their business and exhibiting the apathy of the onlookers.

Thirteen-year-old Angelle gets into a car accident when her drunken father begs her to drive home in his stead. Later, she must take the witness stand in court and decide her family's future with her testimony.

A boy feels isolated from his group of friends and targets his rage towards the most popular of them all. When he realizes the extent of the influence this enemy wields, he is forced to come to terms with the hopelessness of his situation.

A high school boy makes a habit of stealing cars, picking up girls, and skipping school. When he begins to worry that he is getting into too much trouble, the boy must decide whether to seek help or continue his criminal lifestyle.