The Chelsea Gang: Friendship is Everything

The Chelsea gang is a group of eight teenagers who have been inseparable friends since kindergarten. In their first year of high school, detailed in Books #1-8 of this series, these remarkable teenagers struggle with the full range of issues affecting young people and others. Together, they confront issues like dating, family crises, moving, health problems, divorce, child abuse, sexual violence, career choices, suicide, alcohol, bullies, corporal punishment, teen pregnancy, financial difficulties, racism, sexuality, and a myriad of other topics. Together, they use humor, integrity, and ingenuity to solve their problems and resolve crises. Together, they enjoy life to the fullest and continuously seek to horizons to explore just how fabulous and exciting it can be.

In the first book in the series, the Chelsea gang depends on their friendships to solve their crises. In the weeks before the Chelsea Gang starts high school, a classmate's suicide sets off a series of events that leaves the gang members struggling to keep their tightknit group that's been inseparable for the past ten years intact. Panicked about the fragilty of life after the teenager's suicide, their family members make desperate attempts to improve their lives. Will Jorja's parents force her to move down to Georgia so they can be with the rest of their relatives? Will Tabitha's parents truly separate and divorce, and make her spend half her time with her father and his girlfriend over in Brooklyn? Will Salvatore's younger brother have -- and survive -- the complex surgery that will repair his crippled leg? Separate from the suicide, Cate's family copes with the financial crisis and what a new job loss may mean for her. Will it impact Jackson's desire to ask Cate, his best friend since the age of four, out on a date? Why did Taylor burst into tears at the mention of her family, then run away and refuse to talk about it? As Jackson and Taylor lead the Chelsea gang through these life challenges, they also endeavor to ensure that their last few weeks of freedom before high school begins are ones they'll remember forever. Because they know that once high school begins, with the school competitions, dating, sports, dangers, and peer pressures inherent in this next step toward adulthood, their lives will never be the same again.

The author is a lawyer who lives in the Chelsea district of New York City.