Fifteen year-old Jill is a talented dancer but a failing student, yet pretends to her mother Ellen that "school is fine." She continues to spend her time with parties and dating rather than study. One date goes too far and Jill is panicked about possible pregnancy. Jill continues her downhill slide until Ellen receives a letter from school that Jill will be suspended if she doesn't turn her grades around.

Shocked, Ellen grounds Jill big time; no dance, no dates, no parties; only study until she passes her finals. But can that work with a teen-ager? Jill tries hard to get her life back on...

In 1903 in oppressive Russia, fifteen-year-old Yussel Reinerman must masquerade as a Christian to be accepted as an apprentice shoemaker. Despite shearing his Orthodox earlocks, isolating himself from his family, and denying his culture, his guise is ultimately discovered. Desperate and on the run for his life, Yussel boards a ship for America, where he seeks the freedom to live fully, practice his religion, and pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. As the ship docks in Ellis Island, New York, after a hellacious two-week voyage, Yussel is anxious to put his newfound shoemaker skills to work....

In 1903 in oppressive Russia, fifteen-year-old Yussel Reinerman must masquerade as a Christian to be accepted as an apprentice shoemaker. Despite shearing his Orthodox earlocks, isolating himself from his family, and denying his culture, his guise is ultimately discovered. Desperate and on the run for his life, Yussel boards a ship for America, where he seeks the freedom to live fully, practice his religion, and pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. As the ship docks in Ellis Island, New York, after a hellacious two-week voyage, Yussel is anxious to put his newfound shoemaker skills to work....

Jessica Keebler, director of the Los Angeles County Bureau of Adoptions in 1955, faces an almost insurmountable crisis. There's a logjam of unadoptable babies and a severe lack of adequate foster homes for these children. The crux of this issues rests with a statute in California's adoption law stating ..". an interracial child is a non-white and may be given only to a Negro family." Since Negro family applications to adopt are as rare as rain in the Mojave desert, the backlog of interracial babies threatens the structure of Keebler's department and her mental health. When Paul and Anne...

Jessica Keebler, director of the Los Angeles County Bureau of Adoptions in 1955, faces an almost insurmountable crisis. There's a logjam of unadoptable babies and a severe lack of adequate foster homes for these children. The crux of this issues rests with a statute in California's adoption law stating ..". an interracial child is a non-white and may be given only to a Negro family." Since Negro family applications to adopt are as rare as rain in the Mojave desert, the backlog of interracial babies threatens the structure of Keebler's department and her mental health. When Paul and Anne...