Teen-Age Romances #6

A seventeen-year-old girl orphaned from her mother finds herself drawn into petty crime and romance when she becomes entangled with a small-time bookie named Deke Edwards and his criminal associates. As Jerry schemes her way through auto thefts and gambling operations, she sets off a chain of consequences that threatens those closest to her—including her devoted older sister Catherine. When a midnight robbery goes terribly wrong, Jerry must confront the damage her choices have caused and decide what kind of person she really wants to be.

When Anita discovers her steady boyfriend Ted with her friend Helen, jealousy takes over—she's determined to win him back, even if it means using the shy Danny Harding as a pawn in her scheme. But as the week unfolds and her desperate attempts to make Ted jealous lead her down a troubling path, she begins to confront uncomfortable truths about what she really wants and what her careless actions have cost her.

When Elaine's mother falls ill, the aspiring actress must abandon her big break in a New York production to return to her small, judgmental hometown—where she finds herself torn between worry over her mother's recovery, guilt over missing crucial rehearsals, and mounting dread that her rival Vivienne will use her absence to win over Bruce, the close friend she's secretly in love with. As Elaine grapples with small-town prejudice and her own pride, a charming local doctor offers a distraction, but her heart remains divided between her theatrical dreams and the man she left behind.

Julie's search for a boyfriend who's never loved before leaves her perpetually dateless, so she decides to open her heart to a fellow with a romantic past—only to discover that some men carry their old heartaches in ways that can't be overlooked. When she finally takes a chance on Gene, a boy she once knew, she learns that her willingness to compromise might cost her more than she bargained for. Will giving up her standards lead her to the love she's been chasing, or has she walked straight into a trap of her own making?

When Penny sees the new neighbor, Brad Davis, she impulsively pretends to be a boy named "Benny" while fixing her car—and the disguise works too well. As she and Brad bond over building a hot-rod called the Devil Dodger for an upcoming derby, Penny finds herself falling for him while trapped in her own deception, watching helplessly as he becomes infatuated with the conniving Marcia Morgan. When Marcia's recklessness puts both her and Brad in danger during a test drive, Penny realizes her charade may have cost her any chance at the truth.