Thirteen-year-old Stacy is sunbathing in the backyard when she hears a strange noise from inside the house. Turning to look, she sees a man with a gun burst through the door; then everything goes black. She wakes up in a hospital bed to learn that she has spent the last four years in a catatonic state. Suddenly 17, she finds herself struggling to adjust and fighting to remember what happened to her. She is the only witness to the shooting that injured her and killed her mother.

The first time 16-year-old Sarah walks into her new home, she is overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. Something terrible has happened here. When an icy presence whispers a desperate plea for help, Sarah investigates. Sarah first began sensing spirits after her near death experience. She had hoped to leave the hauntings behind and start over in this new town. But now she has learned that someone was murdered in this house, and the murderer went unpunished. Maybe her new friends can help her.

The coroner has ruled Barry Logan’s death as the latest in a string of teen-age suicides. Marti Lewis was Barry’s best friend, and she knows that he was murdered. She just can’t get anyone to believe her. The evidence is clear to Marti. Barry was excited about being accepted at Texas A&M and had everything to live for. Why would he shoot himself in the head after watching a music video that disgusted him? The police found the gun in his right hand, but he was left-handed. Everyone is refusing to accept the obvious.

It's 1861, and although Mike Kelly is far younger than the legal age of 16, he and his best friend Todd secretly join up with the Second Kansas Infantry and become army drummer boys. Mike's dreams of glory end when he's wounded at the bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek and must begin a dangerous adventure behind enemy lines.

With Nazis bombing London every night, it's time for 13-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he's one of the lucky ones - one of 90 boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada. Life aboard the luxury ship is grand-nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum's glare. And after five days at sea, the ship's officers announce that they're out of danger. They're wrong.