Prepared by the national professional association of education reporters, this publication contains five articles that emphasize stories about mothers' crucial roles in their children's literacy. Reporters in five different parts of the United States sought out and interviewed young mothers with school-age children. "An Overview: Mothers' Voices" (Anne C. Lewis), is followed by "Rural Kentucky: Dreams Derailed by Poverty" (Jamie Lucke), which concerns white mothers raising children on their own in a rural Appalachian county in Kentucky. "Charleston, S.C.: Trying To Break the Chain" (Herb Frazier) concerns a black mother in a South Carolina urban area. "Baltimore, Md.: Aching To Do Better" (Gelareh Asayesh) relates stories about two- and three-generation, single-parent, black families in an inner-city area in Baltimore, Maryland. The efforts of newly arrived Hispanic families in Dallas, Texas to achieve literacy are described "Dallas, Texas: De Nada a Literacy--In One Generation" (David Fritze). Finally, "Portland, Ore.: To Speak or Not To Speak--The Home Language" (Miko Yim) addresses efforts of Hmong and Vietnamese families in Portland, Oregon to learn English. Summary comments about the stories are offered in the introduction to the report, which notes that family circumstances often outweigh educational concerns in the families described. The mothers see survival as a more central issue than schooling. Although many of the mothers have almost overcome the limitations of their backgrounds, they do not seem to be able to change or escape from their environment. The schools do not cope well with children who are different from other children, and parents are often intimidated by the schools. In spite of these difficulties with schooling, literacy behaviors in the homes are reinforced even by parents who do not know English. Contains eight references. (LB)