"First, that is a lie. You are not trying to take a train to Germany. Second, your papers are false. Do you think you can trump up false papers and just walk onto one of our trains?" (Hunger Journeys) It's World War Two in Amsterdam. Lena leaves her starving family to travel by train with her friend Sofie to Almelo, a town close to the German border, in search of food. It's a risky plan. The girls have false papers and are quickly pulled off thetrain by German soldiers. Only by fluke do they get back on again— with the help of Albert, one of the soldiers. After Lena discovers that the train had also been used to transport Jews to concentration camps, she fears her new friendship with the well-meaning Albert may lead her into more danger. Sofie, too, befriends a soldier, a relationship that quickly turns serious and has unfortunate consequences for both girls.

Every time Chance turns around, he gets in trouble. In school, he can't sit still. Reading is hard and math is harder, but anything to do with science fascinates him. When his class starts raising butterflies from caterpillars, Chance is hooked. School is suddenly fun again, but when he decides to take his caterpillar home, he learns that loving something often means letting it go.

Kaya is adopted, multiracial, grieving the death of her father--and carrying a painful secret. Feeling ill at ease with her family and in her own skin, she runs away repeatedly, gradually disappearing into a life of addiction and sex work. Meanwhile, her sister, Beth, escapes her own troubles with food and a rediscovered talent for magic tricks. Though both girls struggle through darkness and pain, they eventually find their way to a moment of illumination and healing.This powerful YA novel is rooted in the tragic life of the author's sister, Sarah, a victim of serial killer Robert Pickton and the subject of Maggie de Vries's Governor General's Literary Award--nominated memoir for adults, Missing Sarah. Sarah's tragic experiences inspired the character Kaya, as well as an adult sex worker she meets on the streets. Vancouver's missing women form a chilling backdrop for the story.

Martha knows she is adopted, but when her mother becomes pregnant, she worries about no longer being number one in her parents' hearts.