None of the Above

Thirteen-year-old Marcia Mill can't believe her widowed father married *her.* Forced to call the stepmother she loathes "Mother," Marcia feels the tension created by the merge of two unwilling sets of siblings. Fortunately for them, the oldest two are already out of the house -- but as for Marcia and her 13-year-old stepsister Chrissy, they're stuck. Claiming she only wants the best for Marcia, Mother is on a ceaseless campaign to improve her. She's pushing her to lose weight, to do better in school, to make better friends. Marcia thinks she's being unjustly compared to Chrissy, a tomboyish scholar...but she sees Mother's tirades extend to her biological daughter as well -- just in different forms. As she progresses into her teen years, Marcia begins to see that there's something good about some of Mother's nagging. Getting good grades will help her go to college, and she enjoys spending time with intellectual people, like Chrissy's older brother John and his girlfriend Carla. By contrast, Marcia also begins to see that her sister Sharon -- barely a high school graduate, married at 18 and frequently pregnant -- isn't exactly living a coveted life. By the time she's 18, Marcia's life finally seems to be heading in the right direction. But then she meets Raymond...the kind of boy who Mother's always warned her about. If Marcia hangs onto him, he'll take away her chances at the life she's worked so hard for. But if she lets him go...she may lose a part of her own self.