Dirty Little Secrets

Dirty Little Secrets is about Lucy, a junior in high school. Lucy's mom is a hoarder, and Lucy is so embarrassed she never tells anyone about her mother's problem. She can never even invite a friend over  because her home is filled to the brim with stacks of books, newspapers, boxes, and a disgusting smell that permeates everything. One day Lucy comes home and makes a gruesome discovery, one that changes her life forever as she struggles to make a difficult, even horrifying, decision.

Breaking Point

Breaking Point follows the story of Vicky Fallon, a Bluford sophomore who appears in Brothers in Arms and The Fallen. In this story, Vicky can't take it. Her father has lost his job. Her parents are constantly fighting, and her troubled little brother is out of control. Once an honor student, Vicky is quickly falling behind in her classes at Bluford High. Now her teachers, friends, and her new boyfriend, Martin Luna, want answers. Pressured from all sides, Vicky knows something is about to snap. But the explosion that hits her home is worse than anything she could imagine.

Radiance

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she's summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who's definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley's first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley . . .

Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends

Hey, did you hear the one about the lady who had her beehive hairdo sprayed so hard that spiders started to nest in it? Of course you did, it happened to your next-door neighbor's cousin. Or was it your cousin's next-door neighbor?

Warning: these tales are sometimes tragic, gruesome, and scary!

Skinny

Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies's head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she'll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.

But there is another voice: Ever's singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical - and partly to try and save her own life - Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.

With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.

Wild Life

Erik is preparing for his first-ever hunting trip when he learns that his parents are being deployed to Iraq. A few days later, Erik is shipped off to North Dakota to live with Big Darrell and Oma, grandparents he barely knows. When Erik rescues a dog that's been stuck by a porcupine, Big Darrell says Erik can't keep him. But Erik has already named her Quill and can't bear to give her up. He decides to run away, taking the dog and a shotgun, certain that they can make it on their own out on the prairie. In this story of adventure and survival, Erik learns about the challenges and satisfactions of living off the land, the power of family secrets, and the pain of losing what you love.

Pretty Ugly

A freshman at Bluford High, Jamee never expected Vanessa Pierce and her friends to go this far. The trouble starts at cheerleading practice when Vanessa begins teasing Angel McCallister, a shy new girl at school. When the insults turn nasty, Jamee tries to stop them. She wins Angel's friendship but makes many enemies. Now Jamee is a target, and someone is texting lies and pictures of her all over school. Unwilling to tell her family or snitch on her fellow cheerleaders, Jamee is cornered. Will her next move solve her problems---or make them worse?

Friends with Boys

This is a coming-of-age graphic novel with a spooky twist! Maggie McKay hardly knows what to do with herself. After a happy childhood of homeschooling with her mother and rough-housing with her older brothers, it's time for Maggie to face the outside world, all on her own. But that means facing high school first. And it also means solving the mystery of the melancholy ghost who has silently followed Maggie throughout her entire life. Maybe it even means making a new friend—one who isn't one of her brothers.

The Ghost of Graylock

Does an abandoned asylum hold the key to a frightful haunting?

Everyone's heard the stories about Graylock Hall. It was meant to be a place of healing - a hospital where children and teenagers with mental disorders would be cared for and perhaps even cured. But something went wrong. Several young patients died under mysterious circumstances. Eventually, the hospital was shut down, the building abandoned and left to rot deep in the woods.

As the new kid in town, Neil Cady wants to see Graylock for himself. Especially since rumor has it that the building is haunted. He's got fresh batteries in his flashlight, a camera to document the adventure, and a new best friend watching his back.

Neil might think he's prepared for what he'll find in the dark and decrepit asylum. But he's certainly not prepared for what follows him home. . . .

The Test

Liselle Mason is in trouble. For weeks, she ignored the changes in her body and tried to forget her brief relationship with Oscar Price, her moody classmate at Bluford High. But when Liselle's clothes stop fitting, and her brother notices her growing belly, she panics. A pregnancy test confirms her biggest fears. Unwilling to admit the truth, Liselle suddenly faces a world with no easy answers. Where will she turn? Who will she tell? What will she do?

Brett McCarthy, Work in Progress

Brett McCarthy lives for vocabulary words, soccer, and her larger-than-life grandmother, Nonna. Unfortunately, Brett's got a big mouth she can't seem to tame and opinions she can't keep to herself. And she's obsessed with the moment she became redefined and went from good student, bestfriend-to-Diane to twice-suspended, friendless, and deadest meat in Maine. Soon her world has turned upside down, and she's not sure where she fits, what she should do, or how to make right what she, and her big fat mouth, have made wrong.

Crackback

When Miles Manning, a successful high school football player, discovers his teammates are using steroids--and one of them is his best friend--he's faced with a tough decision: Is he willing to do what it takes to win? Football is his life, and his family, especially his dad, is pinning its hopes on him. It's a lot of pressure for a high school junior to bear. This gripping look into the world of high school boys and athletes--and their struggle to be the best--is provocative and searingly honest.

Girl, Stolen

Sixteen–year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of a car while her mom fills her prescription for antibiotics. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, their car is being stolen. Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne, but once his dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes—now there's a reason to keep her. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare? Because she's not only sick with pneumonia—she's also blind.

Paintings from the Cave

Jake, Jojo, and Jamie, all 12-year-olds. Jake lives in a neighborhood controlled by violence and fear. He meets a sculptor across the street, and his eyes are opened to another world. Jojo is closer to her three dogs than to her foster family. When Jojo tries to help another girl who needs a friend, the dogs know what to do. Jamie and his older brother, Eric, are alone in the world, but Jamie's way with art and dogs helps them find a home.

Are You Afraid Yet: The Science Behind Scary Stuff

Want a good scare? Try reading about severed heads that blink, killer viruses that eat their human host, and real-life werewolves (just for starters)! Scared yet? That's okay - feeling scared is natural and useful. Want to know more about these and other fears? Pick up this one-of-a-kind book, an illustrated investigation into all the stuff that's frightened us out of our wits for centuries and the gruesome, gory, gut-churning science behind it. What makes our skin crawl and our spines tingle? Why do we shiver? Why do scary movies make us scream? Uncover the truth behind such scaremongers as King Kong, UFOs, vampires, mummies, ghosts, haunted houses, and many more. First-person and historical accounts and expert scientific opinions make this the ideal book for both skeptics and believers - and anyone who loves a good old-fashioned scare.