Laura Lippman has long been fascinated by the dangerous vulnerability of teenage girls. In "The Babysitter's Code"-the inspiration for her critically acclaimed novel, To the Power of Three-an adolescent girl decides to take a gun to school. In "Hardly Knew Her," Lippman's homage to Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding, a tomboy learns that growing up means learning how to lie and deceive. And in "Ice*"-a prequel to The Most Dangerous Thing-a young girl is literally haunted by a child who drowned in a mysterious accident. Available singly or as a collection.