Runaway Teens

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?

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...

Upon their upcoming 18th birthday, Kama's friends Jocelyn and Matthew gets a surprise visit from someone Jocelyn did not believe she would ever see again... her banished older brother. What starts out as a sweet visit ends in the most shocking revelation.

Nominated for a National Book Award in 1971, His Own Where is the story of Buddy, a fifteen-year-old boy whose world is spinning out of control. He meets Angela, whose angry parents accuse her of being "wild." When life falls apart for Buddy and his father, and when Angela is attacked at home, they take action to create their own way of staying alive in Brooklyn. In the process, the two find refuge in one another and learn that love is real and necessary.

Joseph’s sophomore year is about to begin, but his new start is a false one. At his father’s request, Joseph has moved in with his aunt and uncle to avoid the toxic environment surrounding his drug-addicted mother. But efforts to keep Joseph safe have tragic results for the family. When their community is shattered, Joseph must contend with his own grief, his mother’s persistent pleas for money, and the distance between himself and his father, stationed in Iraq - not to mention schoolwork, making the tennis team, and a new relationship.

Tired of being poor, Steven’s father, Corey, is certain that preaching the Word of the Lord is the way to fame and fortune. So father and son take off in their dilapidated truck, with a stolen Bible and a leaky army tent, for a whirlwind tour of small Texas towns. At first, few people come to see the new tent preacher - but each day Corey’s confidence and charisma grow. Soon their fortune is growing, too, especially when they start performing bogus healings. For the first time, they can afford luxuries like expensive hotel rooms, meals in fancy restaurants, even a slick new bike for Steven.

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.