After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Having started the Second American Civil War, Danny Wright, along with his friends, finally seem to have gotten out of it when they find a hidden place to build a society of their own, free from U.S. federal rule. However, as the country burns down around them in war, Danny wonders if he can stay silent and safe, out of the action. He wonders if he can live with himself if he lets his countrymen die when he might be able to save them, even at great...

Chris Crutcher, author of young adult novels such as "Ironman" and "Whale Talk," as well as short stories, tells of growing up in Cascade, Idaho, and becoming a writer.

Lida is sent to the Alice Marshall School in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area of Idaho in order to come to terms with her "Thing." Some girls are sent for sexual promiscuity, some for theft and crime, but Lida is keeping her "Thing" a secret. When she meets Boone--an arsonist--the generally-mischievous Jules, and Gia--whose glamour seems to invite problems on its own--Lida's secret is threatened to be uncovered and she doesn't know...

Danny Wright, seventeen, joined the Idaho Army National Guard to serve the country as his father had, but when the Guard is sent to an anti-government protest in Boise and Danny's gun accidently fires, he finds himself at the center of a conflict that results in the federal government declaring war on Idaho.