National Network for Equitable Library Service

After almost drowning in a swollen creek, Wes wonders if what his friend Zach says is true: Wes owes a life debt to the old lady who rescued him. It doesn't help that Wes keeps hearing his dead father's voice saying things like, "A man pays his debts, Wes," and "A man always treats a woman with respect, Wes." But how does a guy go about paying back a life debt anyway? And what if it involves a transmission tower, an ice-cream truck and a few sticks of dynamite?

When Linda’s high school sets up online chat rooms, she can’t resist the urge to visit them. Fueled by interest in a student with the nickname Cyrano, Linda, a girl who suffers from extreme shyness, gets chatty online. Using the nickname Roxanne, she gains a reputation as the queen of one-liners. Soon Linda starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer, and she feels like her life might be turning around. But she has a lot to learn about the risks of online anonymity.

After discovering tainted water in the creek near his grandmother's cabin in the Kentucky hills, senior Roy Linden slowly uncovers a connection between his high school team's new star quarterback, his own football future, and the source of the pollution. Roy Linden should be thrilled. His high school football team, the Johnstown Striking Cobras, just got a new quarterback, and that means a chance at a winning season and a college scholarship for Linden, the team's senior receiver. But then he stumbles onto a deadly secret in the small coal-mining town.

When Renata is chosen to play the lead role in the school musical, students who used to ignore her start saying hello and congratulating her in the hall. She is happy until it becomes evident that Karin, a wealthy girl who expected to get the lead role, will go to great lengths to ruin Renata's reputation.

Royce (aka Rolly) is having a bad year. Not only has his mother dragged him across the country in order to be close to her aged father Arthur, a celebrated cellist, but he's also recovering from mono. When he convinces his mother to let him finish the school year by correspondence, he's left feeling isolated and lonely, and spends his time watching TV and plotting ways to get back to his friends in Nova Scotia. But before his plans can be implemented, his grandfather has a small stroke.

Colby Wyatt has had a rough year. Her dad disappeared, she doesn’t have a place to live, and she’s addicted to meth. Thankfully, her best friend Gigi’s grandma takes her in, and Colby helps out with the family business, selling stolen goods in Gram’s pawnshop, stuff that Colby and Gigi along with Gigi’s brother Milo steal when they break into people’s houses, which Colby is pretty good at. Now she’s pregnant. Colby doesn’t tell anyone who the dad is. Instead, she checks herself into rehab so she can get clean and figure out how to keep the baby.

Megan’s brother, Danny, is dead. Killed in an apparent robbery in a bar. It seems like a terrible but simple case of mistaken identity, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But as the truth comes out, Megan realizes that Danny was “known to the police.” He was in much deeper than she realized, and the police are not motivated to solve the crime. As Megan watches her family self-destruct, she decides she has to find the truth. But the truth is hard to come by, and there are people who will kill to keep it hidden.

Frances works the night shift at a local convenience store, dividing her time between restocking shelves and working on her art. Her routine is broken one night when Devin comes into the store. He claims to be the son of a famous local artist and offers her advice on her drawings. Although he seems to know way too much about her, Frances decides that he is odd but harmless. By the time she realizes the danger she is in, Devin is completely obsessed with her and convinced that if he can’t have her, no one will.

Corbin plays hockey and is known as a scrapper on and off the ice. Fighting makes him feel strong. His friend, Darius, is popular, and his reckless risk-taking makes Corbin feel alive. But at a party in Riley Park, Darius crosses a line with a girl both boys like, and later Darius and Corbin are attacked. Darius is killed, and Corbin is seriously injured. Left with a clouded memory and a weakened body, Corbin struggles to identify the assailants and fights against the loss of his friend. Will he ever be able to give up the fight and find the strength in acceptance?

When Alicia, a talented violinist at Riley Donovan's high school, is found bludgeoned to death in a field on the outskirts of town, suspicion immediately falls on Carrie, the teen's musical rival. But Riley isn't convinced of Carrie's guilt, and even though her police-officer aunt tells her to stay out of it, Riley goes searching for the truth. Did Carrie really kill Alicia in a fit of jealous rage, or is there another explanation for Alicia's death?