Laurie Halse Anderson

"Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless--an outcast--because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her.

Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.

When he and the other volunteers at Dr. Mac's veterinary clinic go to help out at Quinn's Stables, David makes several serious mistakes and must prove he can be trusted before Mr. Quinn will let him even be around the spirited horse that David wants to ride.

Just when Zoe is starting to feel at home in Ambler, Pennsylvania, living with her veterinarian grandmother and learning about a flock of wild parrots, her actress mother arrives to take her to a new home in Los Angeles.

Charity has chicken pox, there's a terrible snowstorm outside, and it looks like the Chatfields will have to spend Thanksgiving without Nana and her wonderful roast turkey, stuffing, and cranberries.

Although it takes her some time, Charity thinks of the perfect Mother's Day gift for her busy mother.

After Sunita's beloved pet cat, Mittens, gets injured on her watch, she wonders if vet work is right for her. She takes an internship at a research lab, but learns that they test on animals and eventually put them to sleep. Sunita loves animals, but can she find a way to work with them without harming them?

Zoe is unhappy about leaving Hollywood to live with her cousin, Maggie, and grandmother, Dr. Mac, in Ambler, Pennsylvania, while her mother is away on a film shoot, but soon gets involved in a suspected case of antifreeze poisoning.

Publisher Annotation: "Speak up for yourself?we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless?an outcast?because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. Through her work on an art project, she is finally able to face what really happened...