National Network for Equitable Library Service

Suspended from school, lonely and bored, fifteen-year-old Zack will do anything for amusement. His mom drags him out geocaching, and Zack finds a CD with the word Famous written across it. He puts the CD in his stereo and loses himself in the music. Zack has sound-color synesthesia. He sees colors when he hears music, and the music on the Famous CD causes incredible patterns of color for him. Zack becomes obsessed with the girl on the CD and decides he has to find her.

The Howling Timberwolves need to win the best two out of three hockey games to make it to the championship finals. But first Johnny Maverick has to survive a visit from his six-year-old cousin, Sarah. And not even Johnny's dog Marvin is safe. Worse, Johnny's got a big lesson to learn on the ice, too. As always, Johnny and Stu and Tom think they have the answers. But, as usual, they are wrong.

Travis and his best friends Ryan and Jasper live for the thrill of watching their horses race. When a thief starts hacking off the tails of Standardbred horses stabled at Blackdown Park, suddenly the track isn't such a great place to hang out. Things get even more unpleasant when a troubled girl comes between Travis and his friends. Travis has to make some tough choices, but how can he stand by his friends when he no longer trusts them?

When Dylan Kowolski agrees to create a display for her high school library, she has no idea of the trouble it's going to cause -- for the school principal, her family, her boyfriend Cam and his jock friends, and her best friend Jocelyn. And for Dylan herself. If only her English class had been studying a normal, run-of-the-mill, mundane book like Lord of the Flies instead of Foxfire things wouldn't have gotten so twisted. Then the world wouldn't have gone into such a massive funk. And then Dylan wouldn't have had to face her deepest fear and the way she was letting it run her life.

Abandoned by her father during the Depression, eleven-year-old Elsie lives in the garage behind her old house with her mother, grandmother Nan and out-of-work uncle. Elsie's friend Scoop accompanies her as she searches for her father in the city, encountering unfriendly hobos, food lines and shantytowns. After both her uncle and her mother disappear on mysterious errands, Elsie and Scoop eventually discover them competing in a dance marathon.

When David's family moves from northern Ontario to Miami, Florida, it takes him less than a day to discover how out of place he is in his new neighborhood. He joins his school's track team, hoping to make new friends, but soon he is pulled into a school-wide web of secrecy and danger. And the one person who can help him keeps running away.

Sixteen-year-old Gordie Jessup is a good kid but he's living a nightmare. His eighteen-year-old brother Chase's two-year addiction to crystal meth has left their family emotionally and financially drained. And just when Gordie thinks he can no longer stand the manipulating, the lying and the stealing, things get even worse. Chase is arrested for aggravated assault, released on bail and sent home to his family. But his dealers are after him and Chase appeals to Gordie for help.

Caz has a pretty good reason when she punches her boyfriend in the face, but she gets expelled anyway. Moving to a new school, she is told she is dyslexic and is sent to special education classes. Caz tries to fit in and get by while suffering the taunts and abuse that others throw at the students in her class. Her friendship with Amanda leads her into new territory, shoplifting and skipping school. Coupled with her parents’ impending separation, her life is spiraling out of control.

Since the death of his father, everyone has been telling Cam that he’s the man of the house. Cam takes his responsibility seriously. He keeps the grieving household organized and takes care of his sister. But when the man who had been driving the truck that killed his father seems to be stalking his family, he is not sure he’s up for the task. How does the man of the house handle a stalker?

Gina Lopez is twenty-six, a postal worker during the week, a mud wrestler on weekends. She's also a recent widow, though she is not exactly mourning the death of her abusive husband Chico. Instead, she's anxiously awaiting the life-insurance settlement that will pay off his gambling debts. After that she's hoping to take her mud-wrestling skills out of small-town-Ontario bars and down to the more lucrative US circuit. And then Marcia Beekland enters her life. Marcia has video evidence that appears to implicate Gina in Chico's death.