Mariel learns a lesson about herself when her jealousy over Jannon Brown, a new girl at school who looks, acts, and dresses exactly like her, enables her to see the truth about her boyfriend, Terrell.
Huong Ngo, a Vietnamese boy who has immigrated to the U.S. with his parents, learns the sad truth about an alleged wild man who lives in the forest when he is forced to call upon the man for help to free his friend from a dangerous cave.
Danica is the only one who can save her family after they are taken prisoner by a madman at the Iris Arms, an out-of-the-way hotel in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Jim Black Eagle's grandfather is pressuring him to try out for the Olympic track team, hoping to make him the second Native American to win a gold medal, and Jim must somehow convince the older man that his heart is not in running, but in art.
No one seems especially concerned when Ms. Sanchez disappears from school, but Justin Alvarez knows she would not desert her students and he is determined to find out what happened to the only teacher who ever cared enough to help him.
After shoving his abusive step-father, African-American Donovan struggles against his mother, family and his own fears in his attempts to do the right thing.
