It's the morning of the SAT. Will Westfield's mother finds his bed empty and still made, his muddy sneakers on the floor. Did this sardonic, seemingly well-adjusted teen run away with his disturbed ex-girlfriend, get in trouble with their drug-dealing neighbor, or flee from the pressure to succeed? His parents search frantically for answers, but the only way to understand Will's disappearance is to retrace the events and decisions that led him to this dangerous moment. Michael Laser's third novel for adults (following Old Buddy Old Pal and Dark & Light: A Love Story) suspensefully records one family's disaster, and the parents' desperate struggle to bring Will back home.

Product description Jenny Fox goes to South America to build a school in her grandfather’s country — but her summer adventure turns into much more than community service when she meets Nelson, the charismatic leader of the project. Jenny isn’t the only one with her eyes on Nelson. As she and her flirtatious rival get closer to Nelson, though, she discovers his dark side: an ugly prejudice against his country’s enemies across the border. She doesn’t want to lose him, but how can she accept his bigotry? While love and conscience clash inside her, a real war threatens to break out around her. This is a summer she’ll remember for the rest of her life. From Booklist "The teens' fiery arguments humanize the big questions, as Jenny witnesses the prejudice against the poorer and darker people who have lost their land, including the housekeeper who works for the volunteers but eats alone... Are the hostile guerrillas on the border terrorists or freedom fighters? Readers will join the discussion." -- Booklist

Grim, joyless and mostly friendless, Edmund Naughton is a white divorc who buries himself in his work as a computer programmer and lives a solitary life on New York's Upper West Side. He impulsively offers shelter to Careese, a recovering black alcoholic, who is homeless, has little education and is shakily attempting to stand on her own. It's an edgy arrangement.