Böcker av Kristopher Paul

Ellie feels as though her entire life has been suddenly uprooted by her mom excepting a job promotion that requires them to move to New Jersey. At first, Ellie assumes she will be spending the rest of the summer alone. She quickly realizes that won't be the case once she meets Karen. She and Karen quickly hit it off and become close friends. Karen is strongly influenced by a clique of girls she belongs to. Initially, Karen expects Ellie to abandon her own self-identity so she will fit in with the rest of Karen's friends. Ellie isn't too thrilled with the idea of being part of a clique. She decides she'd rather be herself. The strength of Ellie and Karen's friendship is put to the test, but after Ellie and Karen nearly lose their lives, They both realize that they have discovered true friendship.

Ryan and his mom have moved to a new town, and Ryan is entering middle school. Adjusting to middle school life is like trying to adjust to a parallel dimension for him. He sees the school athletes getting noticed and he wants to be noticed too.Meanwhile, his mom is recuperating from divorcing his dad. She begins to take a romantic interest in Randy. Ryan doesn't like the idea of another man pursuing his mom. Initially, he wants nothing to do with Randy and wishes he would leave his mom alone.As time goes on, Ryan begins to realize that Randy may be the only one who can help him climb out of obscurity at his new school. A relationship that starts out with Randy acting as Ryan's football coach gradually transforms into a relationship with Randy acting more like a father.Ryan and Randy learn together that learning to love new people can be scary. A bond that starts out as not much more than a mutual love of football becomes a bond filled with love and compassion. Ryan gradually begins to feel grateful to have a new dad who actually cares about him and his mom.