"A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family's love Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys...

In 1910 New York City, four years after her Irish immigrant father dies of tuberculosis, ten-year-old Essie's fear and anxiety continue to grow uncontrollably, so much that when her mother, a brave nurse, remarries and the family moves to North Brother Island, where Essie's new stepfather runs a quarantine hospital for the incurably sick, Essie imagines all manner of horrors, including the ghost of a little girl--which might not be imaginary after...

Josh is less than thrilled that he has a new stepfather, and finds his personal habits-and his personality-irritating. When his mother leaves town, Josh is left to spend a week alone with Clay. Resenting his new living arrangements and his unorthodox home life, Josh finds himself drawn to the idea of a "regular" family and, on a whim, sneaks into a neighbor's house to see how others live. When another opportunity arises to be a fly on the wall, Josh...

"Jeremiah just wants a normal summer with his dad, but it's clear that isn't happening. His dad just moved to an apartment near downtown Minneapolis to live with his new boyfriend, Michael. Michael wears shorts too short, serves weird organic foods, and is constantly nagging Jeremiah to watch out for potholes and to stay hydrated. Worst of all Michael rides the Uni-cycle. Okay, it's a bicycle decorated to look like a unicorn! This is going to be a...

"Magic is illegal in Newworld, so Maggie struggles to explain the strange shadows--that only she can see--that seem to accompany her new stepfather everywhere"--

In western Massachusetts in 1976, still grieving and guilt-ridden over her father's drowning, twelve-year-old Blue is dealt another blow when her older sister, Star, runs away to escape their stepfather's violence against their mother.

In 1908, twelve-year-old Erik faces the challenges of adapting to pioneer life on the Canadian prairie, saving an injured horse with the help of his cousin, and understanding what's really going on in his family.

Alex feels that he does not have much in common with his stepfather Jake until a fuzzy spider brings them together.

Nate and his mother are escaping from his emotionally abusive step-father, Gary, but the run-down and abandoned cottage in the woods that his mother takes them to does not seem like much of a refuge; but when his mother goes off to buy provisions and does not come back Nate is left alone (except for his imaginary friend Sam) and afraid--until a mysterious girl trying to solve the clues of a long-ago treasure hunt turns up.

When seventeen-year-old Albert Morales's girlfriend Lily goes missing and he is the main suspect in her disappearance, he must deflect the worries of his angry parents, the suspicions of the police, and Lily's dangerous stepfather as Albert desperately tries to find her, with her sister as his only ally.