From School Library Journal Grade 6 Up An excellent presentation which shows the painful yet wondrous， complex yet persistent， power of to day's families. Gay discusses all the various forms a ``family'' can take， in cluding split， blended， and interracial families， and families with homosexual members. Her descriptions are lucid and full of relevant statistics which， rather than interrupting the narrative flow， add to its impact. This is a well- organized， gracefully presented book full of information and insight. An in troductory chapter describes why fami lies are necessary in traditional terms (food， shelter， identification， accep tance); a later chapter defines traits of strong families regardless of their make-up. Students from non-traditional family units should feel better about themselves and their families after reading this book. Gay's attitude in her closing chapter on future families， which combines bits and pieces of to day's recognized units， is accepting and hopeful. Rosie Peasley， Sylvan Union School District， Modesto， Calif.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information， Inc. Card catalog description Explores the changes in family structure and interaction in present-day society.