Runaway Teens

When Charlene’s father calls from jail, her life turns upside down. She moves from her beautiful home in Nebraska to inner-city Cleveland, Ohio, overnight. Now homeless, Charlene, her sister Cheyanne, and mother move into her judgmental aunt’s three-bedroom home on the Southeast Side with her seven cousins. She learns to live with roaches, switching schools every couple of months, visiting her father in prison, and keeping the family secret.

'Your Robin Hood thing. Let's do it for the Novel Project,' says Angie. 'Tell everyone?' I shrieked. 'Are you crazy?' Kelly thinks it's all over - her crazy effort to feed the poor. At first it seemed so right, but it became an obsession. And it made her do something so terrible her parents never spoke about it afterwards. Now her best friend is about to start the nightmare all over again...

Angelina and Zack couldn’t be anymore different; one lives in apparent riches and the other in poverty. They meet online and a friendship blooms, but then things in Angelina’s life take a turn for the worst and she finds herself turning to the only person she thinks loves her – Zack. With everything against them, can Zack and Angelina cross the distance to change her life before it's too late?

In the forest, armed men from the new settlement ventured to investigate strange lights and found three fires burning, a child at their center, tethered to a stake. The boy appeared to be white, perhaps three or four years old, unable to speak. He watched the men with the darting, fearful eyes of a wild animal and at their approach he crouched, snatched a stick from a fire, and snarled. So begins Dirk Wildlight's life in the tiny Victorian settlement of Tilmore.

Did you know starvation kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined? Around the world, millions of people go to bed hungry every night. Farmers and ranchers produce enough food to feed everyone, but much of that food does not get to the people who need it most. In some places, food has become a precious commodity - almost like gold. In this audiobook, author Kathlyn Gay explores the complicated interaction between food, business, politics, and the environment.

When a serious illness strikes Lucy's mother, Lucy has to grow up faster than she expected. As the illness gets worse and money gets tighter, even a school trip - which Lucy hoped would give her a break from home - seems out of reach. Out of frustration and desperation, Lucy starts selling her mom's medical marijuana. But she's not exactly an experienced dealer. And when Lucy gets busted, she has some serious explaining to do - to school authorities, to the police, and to her mom.

Benito's father, Xavier, has been in Iraq for more than a year. When he returns, Benito's family life is not the same. Xavier suffers from PTSD - post-traumatic stress disorder - and yells constantly. He causes such a scene at a school function that Benny is embarrassed to go to back to Southside High. Benny can't handle seeing his dad so crazy, so he decides to run away. Will Benny find a new life? Or will he learn how to deal with his dad - through good times and bad?

Evie was pregnant and forced to give up the baby. But she can't just leave the child with strangers, especially when she thinks the baby is being neglected. With her boyfriend waiting in the truck, Evie snatches the baby and convinces him to drive her to Montreal where she plans to start a new life with her child. But when the baby won't eat and she and Justin argue, she ends up alone in a small town. As the baby becomes sicker, Evie must decide whether to admit her mistake and turn herself in, or to keep running.

Changes are the worst. Especially when your parents decide to move you across town in the middle of high school. And with it now being my senior year, I hoped I was done with big life changes until graduation. But then I met Aidan. While my family has gone from middle class to filthy rich, his homeless state remains the same. Not that it matters to either of us. We're just happy to be together. But my mom and her agenda to clean up the city might just change all that. I only hope I can help him before it's too late.