The book emphasizes and focuses on the early recognition and treatment of childhood depression, claiming that it is responsible for much of the volatile behavior of abused, neglected, and abandoned youth. It presents interviewing techniques and interventions, using actual case material, that can be understood and applied by lay volunteers. The book is divided into eight chapters: (1) Sifting Through the Diagnostic Quagmire; (2) Identifying Depression and Its Conversion to Rage; (3) Getting to Know the Child; (4) Conducting the Interview; (5) Helping Interventions That Work (including the Three Wishes, Living Alone on an Island and Sentence Completion); (6) Distorted Thinking; (7) Changing Antisocial Behavior to Prosocial Behavior; and (8) Conclusion. Notes, references