Sam's parents ban him from using the Internet, forcing him to get out of the house and "surf" reality. Tracy's parents are old hippies, yet all she wants is to make enough money to have a nice apartment, leather furniture, and a little red car. Annie is stranded in her parents' remote cabin and must decide for herself whether to accept rescue from a handsome stranger on horseback. And Jeremy finds himself cleaning chickens in a country village. The kids in these stories draw on their considerable inner resources to survive and adapt in a confusing world. To each of these tales, W. D. Valgardson brings the wit, humor, and originality that characterize his fiction.

The characters' triumphs are sometimes small (being there for a friend) and at other times big (discovering that it is better to be alive than dead, even if your parents aren't perfect), but instantly recognizable and engaging to today's young teens.