Runaway Teens

Lorrie Hollander used to be a rich girl, but now she's lost everything because of the secrets and lies of the people around her. It's been 12 years since Lorrie's mother skipped town and left Lorrie in the care of her unstable aunt Gigi. Together they live in a neglected, decrepit mansion called Edgewater, the eyesore in a town of extraordinary wealth and privilege. When Charlie, the son of an esteemed senator, takes an interest in Lorrie, her shame for her family and lifestyle runs deep.

Two boys. One identity. He can change his life if he says yes. An explosive new mystery from the award-winning author Jenny Valentine, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight is the story of a boy who assumes the identity of a missing teenager and in-so-doing unearths a series of shattering family secrets – and the truth about who he really is.

What do you do with your last day on Earth? There are 27 hours and 15 minutes left until a meteor strikes North America, and for Emerson and everyone else who didn't leave, the world will end. But Emerson's world already ended when she ran away from home last year. Since then she has lived on the streets, relying on her wits and her friend, Vince, to help her find places to sleep and food to eat.

Her name is Odd. Twelve-year-old Audrey Wyatt bears the unfortunate nickname "Odd", a name even her bar-hopping, alcoholic mother uses when she's sober enough to recognize the girl. Cowed by life, Odd doesn't protest, not when she's deformed as she is. Born with a combination of rare birth defects, Odd's eyes are a startling and dreadful red. Demon eyes is the first thought that springs to mind. The little girl takes care to hide them behind dark sunglasses, something her mother insists on, except when she's trading freak-show peeks for dollars or drinks.

Meteors devastated the Earth. World governments developed plans to help surviving citizens. The United States' salvageable land was divided into four quadrants - North, South, East, and West - governed by The Remnant Council. Struggling to survive, 17-year-old Ava ends up in juvenile detention, until she is selected for a new life - with a catch. She must be injected with an experimental serum. The results will be life-changing. The serum will make her better. To receive the serum, Ava agrees to join a program controlled by ISAN, the International Sensory Assassin Network.

The Russell family came home one evening to find an uninvited visitor sleeping on their porch. Brock appeared to be quite harmless. So they took him in. Knowing the Bible says they are to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, the Russells take Brock into their own home and quickly befriend him - only to find out he has formerly been accused of a horrifying act.

No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the Earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair, and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement - and the more expensive the sphere.

Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan (nicknamed Stick because he’s tall and thin) is bullied for being "deformed" - he was born with only one ear. His older brother, Bosten, is always there to defend Stick. But the boys can’t defend each other from their abusive parents. When Stick realizes Bosten is gay, he knows that to survive his father's anger, Bosten must leave home. Stick has to find his brother, or he will never feel whole again. In his search, he will encounter good people, bad people, and people who are simply indifferent to kids from the wrong side of the tracks. But he never loses hope of finding love - and his brother.

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.

Sixteen-year-old Chastity and her mother have been on the run since Chass was a baby, assuming new identities in every town. She doesn't know why they are running, who her father is, or even her real name. But then on the night of Chass' 16th birthday, her mother disappears. The cops find her abandoned car, blood matching her DNA, and a purse containing six ID cards. Chass can't believe her mother is dead; she knows that her mom just had to go on the run again, this time to protect Chass.

The eyes of a demented arsonist have focused in on the small town of Farmington, Connecticut. Brock Pearson, the new director of Laborers for God, has more on his plate than he can chew as private homes and businesses are becoming engulfed faster than his ministry can possibly rebuild. Blazing properties form only a small part of the equation in this intriguing, clean mystery. The Pearson household has recently added a new member to their ranks - a runaway named Titus who brings a wealth of surprises to the table, including a quickly developing crush on their pastor’s granddaughter.

At fifteen, Iris is a hobo of sorts - no home, no family, no plan. Her mother died when she was six, and her selfish father hires her out as a companion to a country doctor's elderly mother. Iris, stuck in the middle of 1920s rural Missouri, discovers that "hobo" is short for "homeward bound," and cultivates an eccentric cast of folks into family, creating the home she never had. But when she learns that a neighboring tenant farmer may have had more than his hands on his pregnant daughter, Iris must intervene to save the girl and her unborn baby.

Through the long years of the Great Depression, Harper Flute watches with a child's clear eyes her family's struggle to survive in a hot and impoverished landscape. As life on the surface grows harsher, her brother Tin escapes ever deeper into a subterranean world of darkness and troubling secrets, until his memory becomes a myth barely whispered around the countryside.

At the age of 14, Francisco Jiménez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for 20 hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice.

A few months short of his 16th birthday, Danny runs away from home after a huge row with his Mom. After only four hours, everything he owns is stolen at a motorway service station. He is approached by Luke, a 19-year-old on a road trip, supposedly making a video diary. Luke has a huge car and plenty of money, and Danny likes him instantly. But Luke is not what he seems, and everywhere they go a mysterious trail of death follows them.

Amber Appleton lives in a bus. Ever since her mom’s boyfriend kicked them out, Amber, her mom, and her totally loyal dog, Bobby Big Boy (a.k.a Thrice B), have been camped out in the back of Hello Yellow (the school bus her mom drives). Still, Amber, the self- proclaimed princess of hope and girl of unyielding optimism, refuses to sweat the bad stuff. But when a fatal tragedy threatens Amber’s optimism - and her way of life - can Amber continue to be the rock star of hope?

He's a vampire bad boy. She's a slayer's daughter who's never been kissed.

Samantha can't wait for the holiday break from school. But there's no time to relax: Brynna's baby is due any day; the local authorities are gathering more mustangs from the range; and her best friend Jen's ranch is in upheaval—its owner, Linc Slocum, has just been arrested, and no one is sure what will happen to Jen and her family. But then, disaster strikes: A terrible blizzard traps the Phantom Stallion's band. Sam has to help them, but she's terrified they'll be captured. Can she save her beloved mustangs and keep them free—for good?

Rhyme knows that this summer is going to be a bust. All of her friends are on vacation or at dance camp - without her - and T. K., her maybe-boyfriend, is away all summer in LA. Rhyme is stuck helping the Attaway librarian prepare for the County Fair and studying for the important “Test Test”, which she failed the first time, so that she can move up to the next grade. Such a boring summer. But when an enigmatic set of twins rolls into town in an old station wagon, looking for answers and acceptance, Rhyme gets caught up in a decades-old mystery of love, intrigue, and danger.

In a world where mythical creatures are either controlled, or on the brink of extinction - a prophecy reveals there’s one who can restore balance. The only problem is, she has no idea how to do it. Separated from the only people who’ve had her back - as well as the love of her life, Traeton - Runa must go on a quest alone to uncover what it means to be human, as well as the Daughter of Five. Dropped in an unknown location, presumably still on the planet, she only has a monolithic book - the Caudex - as her guide, but it’s not giving up its answers easily. Will she be able to uncover the mysteries?