Books in Laurel-Leaf Books series

The summer Edie Jo meets Cherokee Fish is the summer her whole world changes. Her town is astir with anti-Native American tension, and it seems that her father is the only person in all of North Carolina who believes in integration. Thirteen-year-old Edie Jo isn't even sure how she feels, and the entrance of the mysterious Cherokee Fish confuses her even more. Little by little, though, she and this gentle Indian boy begin to share their secrets and dreams. Their friendship will be one that Edie Jo will never forget.

Lisa Franklin's troubles seem to melt away when she sings. Since joining a high school band, she feels like a new person: strong and self-confident. Not like the person who has felt miserable since her mother died four years ago. But Lisa's brother, Mark, isn't so happy about her singing with the band--it's his band, his friends. As the summer progresses, Lisa is thrilled with the band's success and all the attention she's getting. But while the other band members can't deny that Lisa is improving their sound, they're not sure it's what they want. The dilemma is even greater since no one knows how to tell Lisa.

Now that he's back in Aspen, Colorado, Will Lansa feels like an outsider after spending the summer with his father on the Hopi reservation in Arizona. He breaks up with his girlfriend Myra, and then becomes the last person known to have seen her alive. When a missing knife is discovered with blood on the blade and traces of a drug on the handle, Will is suspected of committing the murder. His only allies are a computer hacker and a Hopi spirit who visits Will in his dreams. Haunted by visions of Myra's death, Will won't rest until he proves his innocence and finds Myra's murderer.

Seventeen-year-old Eliza Brown was born and raised on a small island with barely enough room for the lighthouse her family must attend to around the clock. Each day she rows a mile to attend school on City Island. But chores and family responsibilities have not allowed Eliza to have a social life there. Then when a family tragedy brings her to live with her older sister's family on City Island, Eliza's life changes forever. Her new life is filled with challenges, friendships, and some painful decisions. Where does a spirited and rebellious young woman like Eliza really belong?

In her first novel, Kissing Doorknobs, Terry Spencer Hesser has written an inspiring, often humorous novel about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a topic that merits discussion and compassion.Fourteen-year-old Tara Sullivan has always been a worrier. On the surface, she has been able to behave like a normal girl. But when she is 11 years old, she hears a phrase that changes her life: Step on a crack, break your mother's back. Now, everywhere she goes, Tara must count every crack in the sidewalk. If she gets interrupted or loses her place, she has to go home and start all over again. As she gets older, her "habits" don't get better--they change and increase. She has to arrange her meals, recite prayers, and chat with her dolls, over and over again.Tara does not know why she has these habits, she just knows that she has no choice: she has to complete the rituals. Then one day, before leaving the house, she finds herself kissing her fing