Social Issues Fiction

Stella Diaz loves marine animals, especially her betta fish, Pancho. But Stella Diaz is not a betta fish. Betta fish like to be alone, while Stella loves spending time with her mom and brother and her best friend, Jenny. Trouble is, Jenny is in another class this year, and Stella feels very lonely. When a new boy arrives in Stella's class, she really wants to be his friend, but sometimes Stella accidentally speaks Spanish instead of English and pronounces words wrong, which makes her turn roja. Plus, she has to speak in front of her whole class for a big presentation at school!

Lia and Diana are the "it girls" of Empire Hill High. Their lives are perfect . . . until Diana disappears and the rumors start flying. Everyone thinks Diana is a runaway, including the police. Lia is secretly convinced it's all a prank. Then she finds a crushed red rose tied with a candy-cane ribbon where Diana went missing. And next to it, a note: YOU.

The Hospital Ship is no more, and Yang Wei awakens to find himself at the mercy of monstrous doctors and the tumult of his own mind. Not helping matters, of course, is the Mars Hospital’s Pool of Dead Souls. A ghastly body of water, it traps people in an endless cycle of treatment, death, and resurrection. When an unruly band of patients revolts against this suffering, the Hospital descends into chaos, the likes of which have never been seen before.

Since the beginning of humanity, people have recognized the distinct creation of the male and female gender in God's design. But with today's gender revolution, people are increasingly questioning who they are designed to be. In our society, gender identity has been divorced from biology and rerooted in psychology. Do the core teachings of the Bible uphold these modern ideas?

The second installment in the riveting new trilogy from Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner transports readers to a not-too-distant future when the young and healthy strain under the burden of a rapidly aging population. Everyone is nervous about how Judge Victor Santiago will rule. The case involved the tragic demise of a loving mother and her disabled son. A common medical procedure has somehow created havoc across the legal and economic landscape.

C2, Zondervan, and World Vision are teaming together on the most ambitious and ecumenical curriculum promoting Christian social responsibility and justice ever conceived. This is a topic that has been building a great deal of buzz within the ranks of Church leadership, but has not yet ignited as an action-based movement among North American Christians. That's 77 million potential Good Samaritans sitting in the pews. And the time is now.

The next generation will face the reality that human activity is changing the planet from one geological epoch to another. From this vantage point—two generations across two geological epochs facing a fundamentally changing planet—Larry Rasmussen writes to his grandchildren. As a grandfather invested in a green earth and climate justice as well as a scholar of faith-based earth ethics, Rasmussen bridges this gap between generations to write to the future about climate change, global citizenship, democracy, and legacy.

The book is presented like we are part of the army of God. Before any battle is fought, there is a battle plan. God wants us to be part of the plan. He has the blueprints laid out on the table within his tent and is inviting us to come in and take a look at them with him. He is the captain of the army.

The nightmares have returned. Something, or someone, wants to drag Julia Davidson back into a dreadful conflict she assumed was a distant memory. Was this, like before, the echo of another person's dream? Is she responsible to rescue faces she doesn't recognize but can't forget? Do the murky images suggest she has a part to play in whatever ominous events lie ahead?

Across the world people are refusing to accept evil and injustice. Entrepreneurs, artists, mothers, musicians, students, teachers, techies, bloggers, advocates - they dare to believe they can meaningfully impact the world. Imagine what is possible…for you. Drawing on his experience on the front lines of suffering, Stephan Bauman, CEO of World Relief, shows how true change happens, where it starts, and why, with God, all things are possible.

The story of a church in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Faced with a dwindling and aging congregation, the church has been forced to shut down the majority of their building and has dismissed much of its staff. With limited funds, they shutter all their ministries and programs, leaving only a couple of adult Sunday school classes and a Sunday morning worship service. When a homeless man freezes to death on the steps of their sanctuary, the church begins to re-examine their mission and priorities.

Alicea Davis shares her God-given hope, strength, and healing poetry with others to help move America forward in the much needed reconciliation process that will aid in more effective race relations. Davis personally relates to the current pain and anger that so many are facing due to racial unrest. As a young black woman, she experienced intense anger towards white Americans when she awakened to the reality of racism still existing in our society.

For as long as she can remember, Sarah's family life has revolved around her twin sister, Annie - the pretty one, the social one, the girl who can do anything. She's the person everyone seems to wish Sarah - with her crippling shyness - could simply become. When Annie suddenly chops off her hair, quits beauty pageants, and gains weight, the focus changes - Annie is still the star of the family, but for all the wrong reasons.

Daddy's girl Rebecca Muir has long known exactly what she wants to do after high school: attend the prestigious architecture program at Columbia University, 3,000 miles away from her home. But as the end of school nears, things are no longer so clear cut - she's just fallen in love with the perfect guy, Jackson; her dad has gotten a new job in New York, so her whole family is following her to the East Coast; and she's having trouble ignoring her premonition that something terrible is coming. And it soon becomes clear why: Shortly after the move, her father reveals that he's leaving them....

You can be improved....Can you really change your body just by carrying around a coded note? Sure - the advanced technology of a d-mat booth will transport you anywhere instantly, but can it also make you taller, stronger, more beautiful? Clair is pretty sure the offer is too good to be true. But her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try, longing for a new, improved version of herself. What starts as Libby's dream turns into Clair's nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap.

Character in the Darkness is filled with stories of the people who have illuminated the darkest nights. In this e-book, Sammy Tippit shares the testimony of two men, one in East Germany and the other in Romania, who lit fires that brought light to their nations. Tippit provides biblical truths that show the way from night to the dawn of a new day.

The author of My Beautiful Idol is on a quest to be successful - in a lucrative job at an advertising agency, in ministry work, even in his relationships. And in a futile attempt to control the sources of love and security, he has turned these things into idols he can keep in his soul's back pocket. He pulls the idols out when he feels vulnerable and defenseless, and hides them again when things are going well. But the idols keep failing - even when he turns to his own Christian faith.

Not long ago, J. Matthew Sleeth had a fantastic life and a great job as chief of the medical staff at a large hospital. He was living the American dream - until he saw an increasing number of his patients suffering from cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases. He began to suspect that the Earth and its inhabitants were in deep trouble. Turning to Jesus for guidance, Sleeth discovered how the scriptural lessons of personal responsibility, simplicity, and stewardship could be applied to modern life. The Sleeths have since sold their big home and given away more than half of what they once owned.

From Newbery Honor medalist Susan Campbell Bartoletti and in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in America comes the tirelessly researched story of the little-known DC Women’s March of 1913. Bartoletti spins a story like few others - deftly taking listeners by the hand and introducing them to suffragists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. Paul and Burns met in a London jail and fought their way through hunger strikes, jail time, and much more to win a long, difficult victory for America and its women.

Ethan is living a solid, rational life as a bail bondsman in Florida when he’s compelled to make a seemingly irrational decision: abandon his job and his girlfriend and head south to rescue the daughter of his ex-lover, Michelle. She appears to have been kidnapped by the Mara - vicious street gangs ripping apart the fabric of Central American life - and there’s every reason to believe the girl is dead already. Except for the one that Ethan has been hiding from everyone: she is calling to him in his dreams with three desperate words…I’m still alive.