Shortly before the Civil War exploded in the South, thirteen year-old Ben McKenna is fighting his own war against slavery, on the hemp plantation in Kentucky where he lives. His best friend, a crippled slave boy, Josiah, is about to be sold by Ben's father, and Ben must stop that sale by planning an escape for Josiah and his slave parents. When the buyer for Josiah arrives early, the escape has to take place that very night. Without any kind of plan, or even a map, Ben and Josiah and his parents, Bess and Jesse, embark upon a journey to find the Ohio River and the freedom that lies beyond for the slaves. Instead, they find hostility, danger, and deception, in a quest that costs them more than Ben ever dreamed of. Fear. Hunger. Exhaustion. They are on the run from slave hunters and their dogs, dogs who can follow their scent no matter what they do to disguise it. Hidden barns, tiny attic rooms, cellars full of rotting fruit and vegetables are their only means of safety, and then...

Disasters strike in many different forms. Thirteen year old AJ Devlin believes she has a great life with a good family, two BFFs, a love for cheerleading, and a Champion Quarter Horse mare. When a new girl arrives in town, AJ thinks nothing of it. It's only when her best friends, Julie and Jaime, begin ignoring her that she wonders why Celine is insinuating herself into AJ's life. As her life begins to fall apart in many different directions, she realizes that the "new girl" is intent upon destroying everything AJ holds dear. Yet, when her almost-boyfriend finds incriminating evidence against Celine, revealing that this girl is not who or what she claims to be, AJ refuses to allow him to disclose it. Before AJ can settle the score with Celine, she must confront the unexpected divorce of her parents and her now unstable relationship with her father; navigate a new and shaky friendship with one of her former BFFs, and learn to cope with a devastating tragedy that comes out of nowhere.