Frank Carlson Library

Never has there been a more exciting -- or more challenging -- era in which to be (or parent) a teenager. The benefits of living in today's global society are great. But so are the dangers. Across the nation, pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, abortions, drug usage, homicide, and suicide have all become commonplace among teens. Yet despite these facts, moms and dads continue to have a dramatic impact on their children. Research shows that...

Boris Yellnikoff is a lifelong New York resident who attempts to impress his ideologies of religion, relationships, and the randomness of existence onto anyone who will listen. But when he begrudgingly allows Melodie St. Ann Celestine, a naïve Mississippi runaway, to live in his apartment, his reclusive rages give way to an unlikely friendship and Boris begins to mold the impressionable young girl's worldly views to match his own. When it comes to...