Showing results by narrator "Danny Gerard" in All Categories

Jeremy Simms watches from the porch of the general store as the weekly bus from Jackson comes through his town. His neighbor, Stacey Logan, and Stacey's brothers and sister are there to see their grandmother off on a trip. Jeremy's friend, Josias Williams, is taking the bus to his new job. But Josias and the Logans are black, and in Mississippi in the 1930s, black people can't ride the bus if that means there won't be enough room for white people to ride. When several white passengers arrive at the last minute, the driver sends Josias and Stacey's grandmother off the bus.

A new town, a new school, a new start. That's what 14-year-old Gray Wilton believes as he chants, "It's gonna be better, gonna be better here." But it doesn't take long for Gray to realize that nothing's going to change--there are bullies in every school, and he's always their punching bag. Gray feels trapped in a world where he has no control and no way out--until the day he enters the halls with his father's semiautomatic in hand.

It's tough for 11-year-old Ned to stop eating. At four-feet-eight inches tall he weighs one 109 pounds, and he keeps growing - wider. When his parents send him to a summer diet camp, he and his bunkmates can't quite give up their old habits. The joys of candy and doughnuts are so appealing that "cheating" adventures seems to be the only answer. The problem, of course, is how to lose weight and keep eating sweets.

Brady loves life on the Chesapeake Bay with his friends J. T. and Digger. But developers and rich families are moving into the area, and while Brady befriends some of them, like the DiAngelos, his parents and friends are bitter about the changes. Tragedy strikes when the DiAngelos' kayak overturns in the bay, and Brady wonders if it was more than an accident. Soon, Brady discovers the terrible truth behind the kayak's sinking, and it will change the lives of those he loves forever.

For Charlie, the cold, dark basement is home. Father has kept him locked in there as punishment. Charlie doesn't intend to leave, but when he is accidentally thrust outside, he awakens to the alien surroundings of a world to which he's never before been exposed. Though haunted by hallucinations, fear of the basement, and his father's rage, Charlie must find a way to survive in his new world. He has escaped his past, but his journey has just begun.