Jeff was kidnapped three years ago. He was taken at knifepoint from a highway rest-stop as a boy of fourteen. He is no longer a child when he returns. He scarcely feels human anymore. Just coming back to his family doesn't mean that he is home. He may never find home again.

Luke is lost. Sometime in the last couple of years everything went wrong. He can't seem to function at school; he has few friends; his family doesn't understand or trust him any more. The night train no one else can hear seems like one more piece of evidence - evidence that Luke is losing touch with reality. If the night train is real, everything will be okay. He has to know... A powerful Australian novel from the author of The Lost Day.

A summer sunrise finds Willa Jo up on the roof of Aunt Patty's house. She can't seem to make herself come down. Little Sister has followed her. Bossy, critical Aunty Patty is worried now. But she has never seemed to care much for their feelings before. She took them in when their infant sister died and their mother just fell apart, but she has not given them a home.

Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother is gone, just gone. She promised to return, but she has not. Sal tells her story in many layers, to different listeners - to the reader, to her grandparents, and to herself. She is a great storyteller. Readers will want to catch up with Sal again in Chasing Redbird.

"There are friends, I think, we can't imagine living without. People who are sisters to us, or brothers. Jimmy was one of those. I never thought I might have to go through life without him. I never thought he might be killed by a drunk driver or anything else. Who thinks about things like that when you're seventeen?" Morgan has to think about it now.

When a disastrous party turns into one humiliation too many for Brian, he gets into his car and drives with his eyes closed, waiting to die. Somebody dies, but it isn't Brian. As part of his sentence, the court requires Brian to meet with members of the bereaved family. The result is a strange and lonely cross-country quest for forgiveness and atonement.

Holland and Geneva are haunted by the "other Shepards", their older brothers and sister who died years before. Tragedy has defined their lives for as long as they can remember. Now Annie is here, charming and mysterious, painting a mural in their house. Perhaps she will be the event that changes the pattern of their lives.

"Ninety Foot is this natural pool in Lynn Creek, which runs through Lynn Canyon. It is called that because of the sheer rock walls that rise ninety feet high on either side of it." Pam goes there because her mother loved it; she goes there to be with her again. It is a beautiful place, but a dangerous one, the place where her mother died.

Here are nine tales of grief and loneliness, of kids forced to grow up before their time. Mary-Kate McDonald's characters may be loaded with sadness, but they carry their burdens with grace and courage.

Alexandra is head over heels for Cliff. He couldn't be more perfect. Except... he is so jealous - not just of other guys, but even of time spent with friends. Perhaps this is just a sign of how much he loves and needs her. Then Cliff begins hitting her. Is it her fault? Just when are Cliff's actions past forgiving?

Identical twins Tina and Cilla have a love-hate relationship. They are very close, but they could hardly be more different. When the war between them is at its height Cilla is killed in a car accident and Tina must learn to live without the other half of herself.

One day a trainer falls into the killer-whale pool at the Victoria Seaquarium. Members of the audience are horrified as they watch the whales drown the young woman before their eyes. Cassie and Holden were two among the elementary school class who witnessed the nightmarish scene. Years later each is still haunted by this childhood tragedy. This story was inspired by an actual accident at the Victoria Aquarium.

Orfe is a brilliant singer and song-writer, poised on the brink of stardom. She is also deeply in love, with a recovering addict called Yuri. This modern interpretation of the classic tragedy of Orpheus is a magical journey by a master storyteller.