Books with author Steven Barnes

Noah is the top member of his rock-climbing team, the Rock Dogs. Along with Lucas, Noahís best friend, and Eric, his biggest rival, the Rock Dogs win the annual in-house competition and are rewarded with a three-day camping trip to Rattle Snake Point. There is only one catch: everyone must bring an adult. Luckily, Noahís dad, who has been preoccupied with his new business, finds the time to go along. But he is unable to leave his work at home, resulting in a survival lesson for both Noah and Eric.

Everything stops making sense for southpaw Travis Barkley when his parents die in a car crash and he is separated from his sister, Amanda. After years of being in the foster-care system, Travis receives a puzzling postcard from Amanda and heads to southern California to try to find her. His search is a dead-end until he meets Jesse and Ethan. With the help of his new friends, Travis continues to look for Amanda. Travis's love of baseball is rekindled when Ethan convinces him to pitch on his baseball team. His attention divided, Travis must decide between jeopardizing his chance at a future in baseball and connecting with his sister.

Baseball season has begun for the South Coast Sharks. As a senior, Griffin has college in his sights and plans to land himself a baseball scholarship. His determination causes him to turn a blind eye to the hazing of new players by the team captain, Wade. But when Griffin senses that his cousin Carson is getting the brunt of Wade’s aggression, Griffin finally stands up to him. Soon after, steroids are found in Carson’s locker, and he’s kicked off the team. Can Griffin stop Wade’s reign of terror, prove his cousin’s innocence and still stay on track with his baseball dreams?

For spring break, sixteen-year-old Maya travels from Vancouver to Palm Springs to visit her grandparents, soak up the sun and play some tennis. When they surprise her with tickets to the Indian Wells tennis tournament, she can't believe her luck. This is going to be the best vacation ever. But on the way back from the match they get into a fender bender. The other driver suggests they just square up and not involve the police or insurance companies. That seems odd to Maya, especially since the passenger of the other vehicle is visibly pregnant. But because Maya was driving, her grandfather is worried about repercussions and agrees to the deal. Later, Maya and her new friend Ruby discover that similar incidents have happened to others in her grandparents' gated community. They start to investigate, and when they spot the woman from the crash working in a clothing store, and clearly not pregnant, they know they are onto something.

Sixteen-year-old Angelo has moved to Toronto from the Philippines to join his mother, who has been living and working in Canada for most of Angelo's life. Adjusting to a new country isn't easy for Angelo, with a new language, curfews, new rules, and pressure from a mom who seems like a stranger. Angelo's mother takes him to the Filipino Community Centre where he meets Marcus who has shared the same experience.At school, Marcus introduces Angelo to Felix and Darius. The boys quickly give Angelo a reality check, pointing out how rich everyone else is, and how no one respects poor Filipino immigrants. They lure Angelo into running petty thefts as a way of proving his friendship. But when Angelo is accused of stealing something valuable from the house his mother cleans and she loses her job, he realizes that everyone sees him as just a punk. He wants to set things right, but how can he go against his friends without getting the law involved?

Eighth-grader Emma is the tallest person in her class. While she used to be into sports in a big way, now that she's hanging out with her new best friend, other things have become more important -- like clothes and makeup and fitting in. When Emma gets roped into volunteering for the girls? volleyball team, she feels the urge to play again. First, though, she?ll have to overcome her fear of what her new friends will say if she does.

For spring break, sixteen-year-old Maya travels from Vancouver to Palm Springs to visit her grandparents, soak up the sun and play some tennis. When they surprise her with tickets to the Indian Wells tennis tournament, she can't believe her luck. This is going to be the best vacation ever. But on the way back from the match they get into a fender bender. The other driver suggests they just square up and not involve the police or insurance companies. That seems odd to Maya, especially since the passenger of the other vehicle is visibly pregnant. But because Maya was driving, her grandfather is worried about repercussions and agrees to the deal. Later, Maya and her new friend Ruby discover that similar incidents have happened to others in her grandparents' gated community. They start to investigate, and when they spot the woman from the crash working in a clothing store, and clearly not pregnant, they know they are onto something.

Sixteen-year-old Angelo moved to Toronto from the Philippines to join his mother, who has been living and working in Canada for most of his life. Adjusting to a new country isn't easy, but when Angelo's mother takes him to the Filipino Community Centre he meets Marcus who has shared the same experience. At school, Marcus introduces Angelo to Felix and Darius. The boys quickly show Angelo how no one respects poor Filipino immigrants and lure him into running petty thefts as a way of evening the score. But when the group is faced with consequences will Angelo have the courage to go against his friends and set things right?

Hockey is all Tyler ever wanted to do. But when he finally makes the select team, things aren't how he imagined it. Tyler divides his time between playing for fun in house league and playing high-stakes hockey in select. But trying to succeed at both is wearing him down: the house league team accuses him of holding back, and the pressure to win during select games is immense. And the pressure isn't just coming from the players and the coach, it's also coming from his hockey-loving mom. Tyler's burnt out and feeling crushed by the stress, but how can he give up the game he loves? In Making Select, author Steven Barwin tackles a hockey issue that has been much talked about in recent years—youth hockey burnout.

Olivia spends her nights drumming in a band, hanging out in clubs and drinking, and her days hungover at school. When her bandmate Lucas catches Olivia talking to her friend Raymond in the women's washroom, he beats up Raymond in a jealous rage. When Lucas tells Olivia that Raymond's criminal brother is looking for them for payback, they go on the run together. Lucas keeps Olivia drunk and off-balance, telling her he loves her and pressuring her to have sex with him. When Olivia finally discovers that the story about Raymond's brother is a lie, she realizes she has to get out of Lucas's obsessive trap.