Swim with the current, or go against the flow?

Savannah has been feeling out of place ever since her family moved to Sandy Dune, Florida. She finds it easier to make friends with animals than people. Plus, everyone in Sandy Dune seems to love spending time in the ocean, and Sav never feels comfortable leaving the shore.

When her classmate Tanner invites her to the opening of his family's restaurant, Sav's excited--until she's served a bowl of shark fin soup. Sav has always been scared of sharks, but she's horrified that they're inhumanely killed for this expensive delicacy. Especially as she learns more about these surprisingly gentle creatures and discovers that some shark species are being hunted to the point of endangerment. Tanner's family brushes off her concerns, but Sav resolves to stop them from serving the soup.

To do that, she'll have to learn how to use her voice and face her biggest fears.

A year after being diagnosed with hearing loss, twelve-year-old Rayne is doing her best to live a normal life and act like nothing has changed.

But her hearing keeps failing her. Even with hearing aids, she has trouble following conversations and hanging out with her friends the way she used to. Her grades are slipping, surfing is now a wipeout, and she can't understand the lyrics of her favorite singer's new songs. Rayne's parents are pushing for her to get cochlear implants, which could restore her hearing--though she would hear sounds differently than she did before her hearing loss.

Rayne isn't convinced the surgery for CIs is worth the risks and challenges. In fact, she's terrified of it. She begs her parents to consider other options, but they're not budging.

With the surgery looming, Rayne sets off on a search for alternatives. Along the way, she discovers that normal can have many meanings--and that even though her ears may be broken, she is not.

Asterisks replace unheard words of dialogue in this moving middle grade novel, based on the author's own life, that follows an adolescent girl's struggle with both progressive hearing loss and her parents' insistence that she get cochlear implants.--The New York Times Book Review

Rayne is a likable protagonist, and readers will root for her. An interesting story of a particular deaf experience.--Kirkus Reviews

In this story about growing up in a difficult part of America's history, Jake Green is introduced as a cross country runner who wants to be a soldier and an American hero when he grows up.

Before he can work far towards these goals, September 11th happens, and it is discovered that one of the hijackers lives in Jake's town. The children in Jake's town try to process everything, but they struggle. Jake's classmate Bobby beats up Jake's best friend, Sam Madina, just for being an Arab Muslim.

According to his own code of conduct, Jake wants to fight Bobby for messing with his best friend. The situation gets more complicated when Sam's father is detained and interrogated by the FBI. Jake's mother doubts Sam's father's innocence. Jake must choose between believing his parents and leaving Bobby alone or defending Sam.