I was surprised at how much I enjoyed nearly all the stories and vignettes in this book. It was given to me by my mom at the height of my adolescent angst, which surprised me because my mom's not a reader. I though it was going to be cheesy stories written by do-gooders who had perfect lives and whose biggest problems would be getting a "B" on their homework assignment. Instead, it turned out to be a book exploring a wide range of issues, from sex to grief to friendship. It wasn't myopic or self-pitying or condescending. The stories were, much to my surprise, very real and a fairly accurate portrayal of being a teenager.