National Network for Equitable Library Service

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?

Vancouver Post gossip columnist Nicole Charles is only slightly put out when she discovers she’s been downsized. She figures she’s lucky to still have a job. It just means she needs to get a desk so she can work out of her apartment. But the desk she buys at auction proves to have more history than she’d anticipated, and the cache she finds in a secret compartment in that desk has links to a money-laundering ring, and an old school-mate. Will this be the story that lands Nicole a job on the news desk?

Rosario Gomez gave up gang life after his brother was killed in a street fight. Now all he wants to do is finish night school, be a good father and work hard enough at his job at the supermarket to get promoted. But when an old friend shows up to ask him why he left the gang, Rosario realizes he was fooling himself if he thought his violent past would just go away. When his pregnant girlfriend is hit in a drive-by shooting, Rosario has to make some hard choices. Revenge means a return to his old ways, something he swore he would never do.

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.

Callie’s mother has chained herself to the neighbor’s tree and is living inside the tree house. She refuses to come down until the neighbor, Mr. Wilson, agrees to leave the tree standing. Soon reporters arrive, followed by an activist group called the singing Grannies and a gang of bikers, each group with their own wacky agenda. Callie doesn’t want to deal with any of them, but she needs to get her mother to come down from the tree so that her life can return to normal.

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?

Jake and his younger brother Tommy are visiting family at a beach house on the coast. Having already lost a race to his cousin Lexie, Jake can't resist a second chance at victory when she challenges him again. Only this time it's a boat race-to the legendary Smuggler's Cave and back. The ocean is deep and choppy, and the boat is harder to control than Jake thought it would be. When he and Tommy reach Smuggler's Cave, the unthinkable happens. The boat capsizes, and they are swept into the cave.

Jane is terrified of the masks hanging along her grandmother's stairwell, and even more scared of the Spirit Man in her grandmother's bathroom. After a week of avoiding him during a summer visit, she finally summons the courage to face him, minutes before leaving for the trip home. But her moment of triumph marks the beginning of a year of trouble for Jane and her family, trouble only Jane (and the Spirit Man) can fix.

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.