Lynch, Chris

Arlo Brodie loves being at the heart of the action on the football field, and while his dad cheers him on, his mother quotes head injury statistics and refuses to watch, but Arlo's winning plays, the cheering crowds, and the adrenaline rush are enough to convince him that everything is OK, in spite of the pain, the pounding, the dizziness, and the confusion.

When Rudi is drafted by the US Marine Corps, no one expects him to succeed. To everyone's surprise, however, Rudi turns out to be a very good soldier. That's because Rudi has decided to live by a simple code: He will follow orders. No matter how big or small. No matter how frightening. But will following orders be enough to keep Rudi alive? And if he does survive the war, will his best friends even recognize him on the other side?.

"Gabriel Green is too young to join the military. But after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he's too spitting angry not to. So Gabe and his sickly older brother, Dallas, hatch a plan. 'Gabe' will stay behind in their isolated Pennsylvania home while 'Dallas' fights abroad--each brother taking the other's name. It isn't long before Gabe's talent for fighting--and his anger issues--land him in trouble. But in this new kind of war, the army has special use for soldiers as ferocious and tenacious as he is. The First Special Service Force is an elite unit composed of American and Canadian troops. From the start, it's intended to go where other soldiers won't. Here, Gabe's training is anything but 'basic,' including intense lessons in parachuting, hand-to-hand combat, skiing, and even how to eat bugs. Gabe and his fellow commandos are eager to be unleashed. Soon, they'll get their wish"--Provided by publisher.

Eighteen-year-old Eric deals with the loss of his older brother Duane by meeting three of the seven recipients of Duane's organs a year after his death, and pondering who they are to him, and he to them.

In a future where electronic surveillance has taken the place of love, a veterinarian is putting computer chips in animals to control them, and those creatures choose young Zane, who understands their speech, to release captives and bring them to a technology-free safety zone.

When fourteen-year-old Sylvia McLuckie, her ten-year-old brother Walter, and their quirky father move to a cottage by the sea, their new home's eerie reputation forces them to confront some surprising ghosts from their past.

In 1975, twelve-year-old Richard befriends Napolean, a Caribbean newcomer to his Catholic school, hoping that Napolean will learn to love baseball and the Red Sox, and will win acceptance in the racially polarized Boston school.

Best friends Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck, having been either drafted or enlisted in the military during the Vietnam War, pledge they will come home together, and Morris, a sailor on the USS "Boston," relies on that promise to stay strong while his courage and resolve are tested under attack.