"Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to 'aging out' out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse.... As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds...

The struggle to build an authentic identity lies at the heart of Astrid's life as a foster child in Los Angeles after her poet mother, who has kept Astrid isolated from the world, is imprisoned for murder

The author reveals the story of his struggle through the challenges of adolescence, detailing the taunting he endured from bullies, the joys of making his first real friends, and his quest to escape his difficult home life.

Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, Sara finds herself facing years in a juvenile detention facility and banned from using computers for the same stretch of time. Enter Mother, a British spy who not only gets Sara released from jail but also offers her a chance to make a home for herself within a secret...

The bestselling, critically acclaimed author of The Space Between Us and The World We Found deftly explores issues of race, class, privilege, and power and asks us to consider uncomfortable moral questions in this probing, ambitious, emotionally wrenching novel of two families--one black, one white. During a terrible heat wave in 1991--the worst in a decade--ten-year-old Anton has been locked in an apartment in the projects, alone, for seven days,...

Amy Denison volunteers at Glory's Place, an after school program where she meets seven-year-old Maddie, a precocious young girl who has spent her childhood in foster care. Unbeknownst to Amy, Maddie is a mini-matchmaker, with her eye on just the right man for Amy at her school, Grandon Elementary. As Christmas nears and the town is blanketed in snow and beautiful decorations, Maddie and the staff at Glory's Place help Amy to see that romance can be...

Caleb Franklin and his younger brother, Bobby Gene, spend an extraordinary summer with their new, older neighbor, Styx Malone, a foster boy from the city.

For one 14-year-old boy, life can be a challenge sometimes. With all of the usual crises that accompany being an adolescent, foster kid Billy has some additional obstacles in life. A chance encounter with a mystical wizard completely changes everything. And it's not long before this boy discovers that one phrase grants him the ability to make a transformation into a superhero. In fact, it couldn't be easier. All Billy needs to do is shout "Shazam!"...

Laura Rodriguez Colon has a plan: no matter what the grown-ups say, she will live with her parents again. Can you blame her? It's tough to make friends as the new kids at school. And while staying at her aunt's house is okay, it just isn't the same as being in her own space. So when Laura finds a puppy, it seems like fate. If she can train the puppy to become a therapy dog, then maybe she'll be allowed to visit her parents. Maybe the dog will help...