National Network for Equitable Library Service

Riley Donovan is the new kid in a small town where her aunt (and guardian) has just started a job as a detective on the town’s police force. Riley is home alone when a neighbor’s barn catches on fire; when she realizes that he is trapped in the barn, she calls 9-1-1 and then tries to save him . But instead of being hailed as a hero, Riley finds herself the target of vandalism and violence. Never one to back away from a confrontation, Riley discovers that her neighbor, Mr. Goran is an immigrant from Kurdistan who is hated by most of the townspeople.

It's "bead season" at slippery rock high. This year the bead-snatching grad game called "Gotcha" has been banned as an official school activity because the teachers have decided to put an end to a dangerous tradition. After paying an entry fee the players are given a bead and someone's name. The object of the game is to snatch the bead of your victim and take their name. The winner ends up with all the beads -- and all the money. After the game is banned it becomes even more appealing. The game goes underground and more grads than ever are participating.

Reggie Scott has always prided himself on being a hard-hitting middle linebacker. But after he is involved in a play on which an opposing player is seriously injured, things change. Football doesn’t seem to matter so much when another boy is lying on the field, unable to move. When Reggie is accused of being a “dirty” player, he is forced to confront his guilt and decide if he can continue to play football.

During WWII, Jed’s English father serves as a fighter pilot overseas, while Jed and his mother move back to her Tsimshian community on Canada's west coast. When the military sets up a naval base in town, Jed is hired to help out, honored it seems, for both his father's bravery and his own native skills as a hunter. Presented with a military jacket, Jed finds an allegiance to his country and a pride in his mixed heritage that he's never felt before. But one day Jed's world is shattered.

Something sinister happened to Mackenzie's twin sister Breanne the last time the two girls were in Ireland. Now they're back and the winter solstice is approaching. Breanne scoffs at their elderly relatives' tales of fair folk and banshees and the thin barrier between two worlds, but Mackenzie remembers what happened to Breanne five years before, at the summer solstice. Mackenzie is convinced the Otherworld is real, but is it a place of enchantment or enslavement for humans?

Chloe thinks of herself as a normal teenage girl--if there's any such thing--until a formless alien being inhabits her body. The being is named Welkin and claims to be a Universal. Welkin has entered Chloe's body as part of a school project. Chloe agrees to let this weirdo observe her life for three days as long as Welkin doesn't interfere. Welkin tries to respect the non-interference portion of the agreement. But Welkin's stream of alien commentary as Chloe deals with boys, her coach and math homework has a comic, and sometimes enlightening, impact on Chloe's life.

Greg is an avid sailor. On a solo trip off the rugged coast, he stumbles upon a family of desperate refugees stranded in a lifeboat. The family convinces Greg to help them, and keep their existence secret. When his plan begins to unravel and the family flees into an oncoming storm, Greg goes after them.

Nick just wants to replace the TV his sister accidentally broke before their foster parents find out. To repay the debt, the sixteen-year-old has to steal bikes, break them down and rebuild them to sell. But the debt and the violence keep growing. Even Nick's own beloved fixed-gear bike--the fixie he built with his dad--is up for grabs. Should Nick recruit younger "runts" to do his dirty work? Should he find a way to give back the bike of the cute girl at the diner now that he sort of likes her? And how can Nick protect his little sister from the creepy guy with the shades?

Zach and Ashley have been going out for a while, and things are going well, until Ashley finds out she is pregnant. She is angry and blames Zach. She wouldn't be in this state if he hadn't tried to take their relationship further than she wanted. Insistent at first on an abortion, she turns against Zach. Confused, Zach struggles with what he should do and what his responsibilities are. Coming to terms with the reactions of their families and friends, Zach realizes that this is a decision that he and Ashley must make together.

When Dominic's children are kidnapped by raiding pirates, Gabrielle and Feolan find themselves drawn into their most frightening adventure yet, a sea journey into unknown lands. The adventure takes a deadly turn when the Gray Veil, a plague that slowly chokes its victims, strikes the harbor town where the children have been taken. Gabrielle's healing powers are needed as never before, and in the end, it seems, she must choose: She can only save one, her husband or her niece.