Zee and his friends are angry that their old haunt has been replaced by stores that are off-limits to them and storekeepers who treat them with distrust. To let the merchants know what he and his friends think, Zee paints graffiti on the wall of the hardware store. After the wall is repainted, Zee decides to repeat the vandalism, but this time with more artistic flair. A store owner catches him in the act and threatens to call the police — unless Zee agrees to repair the damage.

Liberty Hayes has just moved to Sutter's Crossing and is the talk of the town. She has plenty of money and everyone wants to be her friend. When Liberty accuses a male teacher of sexually assaulting her, the rumors start. Val, her new best friend, is torn between believing Liberty and trusting her old friend Ryan when it comes to the truth. What is the trouble with Liberty?

When Linda's high school sets up online chat rooms, she can't resist the urge to visit them. Fueled by interest in a student with the nickname Cyrano, Linda, a girl who suffers from extreme shyness, gets chatty online. Using the nickname Roxanne, she gains a reputation as the queen of one-liners. Soon Linda starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer, and she feels like her life might be turning around. But she has a lot to learn about the risks of online anonymity.

Shaw Sebring is sixteen and trying to understand his father's suicide. Moving with his mother halfway across the country to distance themselves from the awful truth, Shaw lands in a new school and finds that the ghost of his father, a best-selling author, has followed him. Shaw tries to chart his own course, until circumstances force him to accept that where—and who—we come from have an impact on what we become.