Having fled to a family friend's hillside trailer after his mother's boyfriend tried to throw his baby sister against a wall, nine-year-old Jamie finds himself living an existence full of uncertainty and fear.

A talented young ballerina, raised to believe in the virtue of silence by her long-dead mother, struggles to find the courage to ask for help in the aftermath of a devastating assault.

"After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus Crown returns home to Charon County, land of moonshine and cornbread, fist fights and honeysuckle. Seeing his hometown struggling with a bigoted police force inspires him to run for sheriff. He wins, and becomes the first Black sheriff in the history of the county. Then a year to the day after his election, a young Black man is fatally shot by Titus's deputies. Titus pledges to follow the truth wherever...

Everett Anderson wonders how he can help his friend Greg, who appears to be a victim of child abuse.

Spenser reflects back to when he was fourteen years old and how he helped his best friend Jeannie when she was abducted by her abusive father.

A sixteen-year-old misfit, denied everything by her fanatical mother and abused by her classmates, unleashes her terrifying telekinetic powers on an entire town.

After the death of his abusive father, eleven-year-old Ricky tries to help his younger brother deal with his residual fears and discovers that running helps him deal with his own anger and the taunts of a bullying classmate.

Fourteen-year-old Cody trades one dangerous situation for another when he runs away from his abusive mother and takes a job caring for lions and tigers on a Texas ranch where one of the owners has supposedly gone missing.

Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.