los angeles (calif.)

Fourteen-year-old Shawn wonders if he would be better off starting high school in his mother's neigborhood, away from Compton, but the idea of leaving all his friends, and the beautiful Marisol, is less appealing.

Rita Zapata's dream of escaping the mean streets of East Los Angeles come true when she attaches herself to Billy, an enigmatic, passionate fighter from Mexico who takes her along on his road to the top.

Eleven-year-old Cleo is having trouble fitting in at her private school in Los Angeles, but when she and her friend Sam try to improve things using the voodoo doll her Uncle Arnie sent, there are unexpected results.

"The first time Sana Khan asked out a girl--Rachel Recht--it went so badly that she never did it again. Rachel is a film buff and aspiring director, and she's seen Carrie enough times to learn you can never trust cheerleaders (and beautiful people). Rachel was furious that Sana tried to prank her by asking her on a date. But when it comes time for Rachel to cast her senior project, she realizes that there's no more perfect lead than Sana--the girl she's sneered at in the halls for the past three years. And poor Sana--she says yes. She never did really get over that first crush, even if Rachel can barely stand to be in the same room as her. Told in alternative viewpoints and set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in the springtime, when the rainy season rolls in and the Santa Ana's can still blow--these two girls are about to learn that in the city of dreams, anything is possible--even love"--From the publisher's web site.

"Daniel DosSantos is a young Mexican-American living at the speed of life in Los Angeles, with his job, girlfriend, and video games. After gaining powers from exposure to an extraterrestrial object, DosSantos became the rapid action superhero called Accell. The first of a new kind of public crime fighter and bad guy smasher. Unfortunately, there are consequences to moving faster than sound. Daniel's about to learn that danger exists on the flip side of having superpowers, and he may have to grow up quickly to survive"--Back cover.

Both of sixteen-year-old Cammi's parents are stars in Mexico, but everything changes when her mother accepts a role in an American sitcom.