Wilson, Jacqueline

Ellie is starting ninth grade and she's dead set on finding herself a boyfriend. Her two best friends seem to have all the luck in the love department, but our heroine will stop at nothing to join the ranks.

Ten-year-old Tracy, who lives in a children's home because her mother was forced to give her up, dreams of getting a good foster family where she can be happy until her mother comes back for her.

Facing a confrontation with her father that is bound to occur as a result of her scheme to redo her image, Cookie prepares to stand up for herself for the very first time in order to follow her true path in life.

Rambunctious and irrepressible Gemma has been best friends with Alice ever since they were born on the same day, so when Alice moves miles away to Scotland, Gemma is distraught to think that Alice might find a new best friend.

Fourteen-year-old Sylvie, having dreamt that one day she will marry her best fried Carl, is hurt when she begins to realize that he might be more interested in boys then girls, and when Carl acts on his feelings for his classmate, Paul, and becomes the victim of homophobia, Sylvie and her friend, Miranda, help him overcome the difficult situation.

In the midst of trouble at home, with her best friends, and with her love life, thirteen-year-old Ellie receives an encouraging letter from her favorite illustrator.

Starting a new school year, everything is "easy-peasy, simple-pimple" for Charlie until her strict teacher assigns a tough school project and Charlie's mother loses her job.

Ten-year-old Andrea tries to deal with her parents' divorce and the presence of stepparents, stepsisters, and stepbrothers.

Sara tries to take care of her younger brother when he is teased and called Bernadette at summer camp, but he finds an activity that he enjoys and that gives him the chance to shed his new nickname for good.

Ten-year-old Mandy must endure torment from three nasty bullies in school, but she finds solace in a new friendship with an older girl.