Beginning at age twelve, Julia keeps a diary of her life in Juarez, Mexico, where life is always dangerous, until she joins her aunt and grandmother in El Paso, Texas, and faces new challenges.

"Mikala is a native Hawaiian growing up in New Jersey with her grandparents. Although they are loving parents, they have their own dreams and hopes for Mikala. First on this list is her dating a guy from her own culture. Two problems: Mikala likes girls, and she hates everything that has to do with Hawaii. Mikala is forced to lie to her grandparents while writing fantasies in her diary. She and Soledad, her only lesbian friend, sneak out to New York...

"While living in Santa Barbara and attending a private school, Maria's life was comfortably boring. Then her sister died, her father lost his job, and the whole family was forced to start over. When they move to the barrio in East L.A. to live with Maria's grandma, Maria recovers her roots and becomes empowered. She can't continue hiding that she is a lesbian when she meets Natalia, a grumpy chola who smells like sugar and turns Maria's life upside...

"Seventeen-year-old Leroy wants to study art and become a painter. Although he has good relationships with his family and friends, Leroy is far from being happy. With his older brother now in jail, Leroy feels even more trapped by his big secret. He is gay and doesn't dare come out and disrupt an already difficult time for his family. Leroy goes on an incredible--yet painful and terrifying--journey from Dallas to Taos, and from fear to love"--