Rendered famous as the only survivor of a serial killer twenty years earlier, Tessa discovers clues that the wrong person was convicted and that the true killer is preparing to finish what he started.

When ten-year-old Cora and her family leave their home in Missouri, their hearts are filled with the hopes and dreams of a bright future gleaming with promise and opportunity. But the journey west by wagon train is harsh, and tragedy strikes swiftly and unexpectedly. Now Cora and her father must steel themselves for a different future from what they had carefully planned. How can they move forward when their hearts are broken? But move on they must, and Cora takes comfort in her new baby sister (named Susan after the black-eyed flowers). When Cora learns she and Susan are to be separated at the end of their journey, she looks to the past to help craft a link to their new lives. Judy Young is an award-winning author of children's fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Her other books in the Tales of Young Americans series are Minnow and Rose (2010 Storytelling World Resource Award) and The Lucky Star (2009 Storytelling World Honor Award). Judy lives near Springfield, Missouri. Doris Ettlinger graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and has numerous picture books to her credit, including the award-winning The Orange Shoes. Doris lives and teaches in an old grist mill on the banks of the Musconetcong River in western New Jersey.

Stories by and about Black Women This superb collection of short stories features contributions from thirteen black women writers including Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange and Toni Cade Bambara.

Suzie is a dark-eyed twelve-year-old who desperately needs to feel safe and worthy of love. Seeking only to be "good enough," she remains motionless and silent for hours on end, feeling the walls of her psychological prison pressing against her. Ultimately, Suzie finds herself in a mental hospital where she begins a long and fear-filled journey. To make sense of her world, Suzie must piece together a puzzle that involves seemingly unrelated clues--a broken bicycle, a torn picture, peacock feathers, and more--which together reveal a secret that is likely to change Suzie's life forever, and give her an opportunity to regain her voice and reclaim here spirit.

Ten-year-old Susie and her father love living on the South Dakota prairie with its vast, uninterrupted views of land and sky; but Susie's mother greatly misses their old life in Ohio.