Jones, Patrick

When seventeen-year-old Frankie Skinaway's incarcerated father and cousins try to get him involved in the First Nations Mafia, even after his mother enrolls Frankie in an alternative high school to keep him safe, Frankie has a hard choice to make.

Lucas dreams of getting a basketball scholarship and helping his mom out of poverty. But when his older brother lures him toward a life making "easy" money on the street, Lucas must decide what he wants.

After spending time in a juvenile detention center for a crime related to severe anger issues, seventeen-year-old Jada Robinson is sent to a foster home and enrolled in an alternative high school, and begins to move past her old life.

Mercedes Morgan could set a state record for three point shots and perhaps earn a place on a college basketball team if she can keep up the good work on the court. But when her sister winds up in a coma as a result of her gang activity, and her brother seems to be following the same path, Mercedes will have to make challenging decisions to help her family while trying to maintain her focus on her sport.

Rachel Kelly was prepared for a high-stress, over-scheduled junior year filled with AP classes, orchestra, and an unrequited crush but after her troubled cousin Misty moves in and upsets Rachel's controlled life, Rachel finds herself becoming sympathetic toward Misty.

Eighteen-year-old Jos? serves as the bridge between his non-English speaking family and the rest of the world, and because his parents are illegal immigrants and extended family lives with them, money is tight so Jos? works nights and arrives at school so tired that teachers at his alternative high school step in to help.

A new, alternative high school, psychotherapy, a romantic interest, and a manga club help tenth-grader Jessica cope with her social anxiety disorder.

Eighteen-year-old Jos? serves as the bridge between his non-English speaking family and the rest of the world, and because his parents are illegal immigrants and extended family lives with them, money is tight so Jos? works nights and arrives at school so tired that teachers at his alternative high school step in to help.

Seventeen-year-old Christy, sad since her father's death, ignored by her mother, and abused by her drug-dealing half-brother, finds friends who help her learn to stand up for herself and move past the old hurts and fears that are keeping her down.

"After getting out of reform school, DeAndre lands back in the life that put him there: racing souped-up cars with stolen parts. But in trying to earn back his Detroit cred--and his girlfriend--he'll learn what it really means to win"--.