Varied views of growing up in America

Dream Me Home Safely: Writers on Growing Up in America

Edited by Susan Richards Shreve, foreword by Marian Wright Edelman

Mariner, 223 pages, $13 paper

This collection of 34 stories celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Children’s Defense Fund. The title is drawn from John Edgar Wideman’s story of his mother, who would wait up late at night, “dreaming” her young son home. Each story here is distinguished by a special place, ranging from Chicago’s North Shore to Birmingham, Ala.