DEEP WHERE THE OCTOPI LIE

An uneven selection of adolescents telling their (usually happily ended) troubles; unfortunately, many of them are too explicit. Sam's story of a day gazing at ""Octopus punctatus"" exhibits his feelings about his mother's deserting the family; but what passes for sincerity turns to situation-comedy resolution when his father (un-upset?) announces he's off to a community dance. A fast starter about an always-promising, never-delivering father disintegrates, after the crucial scene, into a nowhere ending. And Jennie of Cartown has a week of college for $15 (the registration fee) but leaves with some slush about knowing better the next time around. Steadier in tone is a sister's fitting memorial to her one decent brother, a paint-on-the-barnside inscription, in ""Billy Beans Lived Here."" Several times the beginnings are promising but the endings, which seem designed for uplift, are just suspended in mid-air.