Boomerang
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
The facts of life for homeless San Diego kids
This is a beautiful and powerful representation of the reality of these teens and a reminder that (1) growing up is not always easy even for the prom king and queen and (2) one's petty life challenges pale compared to that of others. Many kudos to The Reader for daring to take on something with social and political relevance rather than an article about taco stands (I did enjoy the missile test sites in Scripps one). Mr. Hemmingson's article particularly hit home with a ring of truth and memory so that I found myself in tears. I "know" these kids! I have heard their life stories and have worked with them. I spent more than 10 years working as an adolescent and family treatment crisis counselor in the mid-1970s to late 1980s with severely emotionally disturbed adolescents, developmentally disabled youth,runaways, abused and neglected youth, Hispanic street gangs, and others at a variety of public and private agencies and for County Children's Services. I experienced all the highs and lows and challenges of serving these diverse populations. At one place, I ran a pre-vocational program for 6 adolescents (at a time). We taught these extremely troubled and challenged teenagers living skills and work-related skills so they could survive after they turned 18 and became ineligible for state or county funding. It was incredible to see the transformations in some, who developed job skills and self-esteem, and to watch them as they left the "nest" and struggled to survive on their own and with their small groups of allies. Many of my associates still hear from these "kids," who are now adults,some with their own families. And, in turn, I am occasionally updated on the progress of a few of our scholars. We all just need the right tool box. While this background may be different from the particulars of your population and story, I commend you for taking it on and for illuminating the lives and struggles of so many who are often pushed aside or forgotten.— April 12, 2008 10:20 a.m.