Two sheltered children are put under the care of a governess with unorthodox ideas about education. The children have never loved learning until now - but these novel ideas draw the disapproval of their mother, who is determined to get rid of the new governess.

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.

After her 10-year-old brother dies from AIDS, an adolescent girl's family moves to a less affluent neighborhood in Florida due to their extensive medical bills. When the girl babysits her new neighbors, two young Black girls, she reckons with subtle questions around race, wealth, class, and grief.

An afternoon at the park takes an unexpected turn for a mother and her son as the well-established families that they admire turn out to be unhappy people who secretly enjoy the misery of others. As the day progresses, the mother is surprised to learn that she and her son share many negative qualities with those families.

A little girl navigates her relationships with two boys in her elementary school class, a brash bully and a shy victim, and learns about the nature of suffering.

After they have been removed from their parents and send to a camp to be brainwashed, two girls connect over an act of institutional rebellion. One suffers for it, and one goes on to live her life as she is supposed to—but will she be satisfied with leaving things alone?

A four-year-old black boy vaguely recalls a mixture of occurrences that puzzled him, including a sentenced hanging in his town of a man who allegedly murdered his wife.

In the early twentieth century, a daughter of plantation owners enjoys playing with the daughter of her black nanny. When she is required to play with a white girl from another plantation, she struggles between keeping her original friendship and succumbing to the racist pressures of her society.

A poor, 9-year-old, Black boy travels with a church camp to visit a house in a wealthy, white neighborhood with a pool to play in and lots of food. When the group's usual host is out of town and the van takes them to a Black woman's house instead, the boy begins to learn lessons about race and class that he does not yet fully understand.

A 5-year-old boy with a unique way of seeing the world feels alienated from his mother and tells her that he does not need her anymore. This viewpoint later causes him to lash out at his family, leading him to reflect on himself and his life.