Struggle For Survival

Who can predict the exact moment when a disaster can strike? When a blizzard begins, high school student Scotty Weems' biggest concern is that his basketball game will be cancelled. However, this issue is quickly forgotten when Scotty and six other students are left behind at school because their parents are caught in the storm and can't pick them up. At first, the group feels that staying overnight at school is a big adventure as they raid the cafeteria's food supply and "camp out" on the hallway floor. Eventually, their high spirits deflate as the heat and power go out, the roof threatens to cave in, anxiety mounts, and days pass without any interruption in the snowfall or rescue attempts from the outside world. When a teacher walks out into the storm to try and find help, he does not return. As the students attempt to figure out what to do next, only one question remains: How can an ordinary day at school turn into a struggle for survival? Read Trapped by Michael Northrop to see who escapes from the blizzard's unyielding clutches. What would you do in this situation?

Secrets and Lies

What would you do if you suspected that a family member was keeping secrets from you? It seems like the opportunity of a lifetime when twelve-year-old Britt's older brother, Brandon, gets a house-sitting job for the summer which will enable their family to temporarily live in a spacious new home in a beautiful Florida neighborhood. However, Bran begins to act suspiciously, evades questions, and becomes increasingly paranoid. Britt slowly realizes that her family wasn't invited to live there at all, and that Bran was only hired to mow the lawn. In fact, the house really belongs to her maternal grandparents who cast their daughter off when she married against their wishes. Bran says that the "grandparents" owe them this home due to the heartache they caused, and Britt feels torn between keeping her brother's secret and her own sense of right and wrong. When it is ultimately discovered that her grandparents, in fact, don't have any connection to the house, and the legal owner's return is imminent, how will Britt and Bran resolve the problem and face the consequences? This is a suspenseful and thought-provoking read about the nature of family and forgiveness.