In 1965, a young woman with dreams of becoming a writer has a son at the age of 15 and struggles to make things work with the drug-addicted father.

A frail boy fights to win acceptance from the leader of a street gang.

Roy and Bo leave their small town the weekend after graduation for a short road trip to LA. Soon, they find themselves lashing out and leaving a trail of bodies behind them. The violence escalates throughout.

Day or night, it's a hot and wild summer at Malibu Beach. When the sun is high, it's Dina's job to patrol the area. Being the hot new lifeguard on duty isn't as easy as you'd think -- there's the older, muscle-bound beach idiot Dugan continually lusting after her, while jerk kids fake drowning just to get her to save them. And who can forget that pesky bikini-stealing dog?!?

Set in modern times, Alex finds King Arthur's sword Excalibur and must prove himself worthy of it.

In Budapest, two rival gangs of young boys lay claim to a vacant lot. The hostilities escalate yet never quite boil over into actual violence.

Father Flanagan raises funds, helps a disabled boy, and saves an older boy from reform school.

Disheartened by futile combat, appalled by the corruption of their South Vietnamese ally, and constantly endangered by the incompetence of their own company commander, the young men find a possible way out of the war. They are told that if they purposely lose a soccer game against a South Vietnamese team, they can spend the rest of their tour playing exhibition games behind the lines.