This delightful collection of short stories from acclaimed writer Susan Gabriel (The Secret Sense of Wildflower, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012 and an Amazon number one best seller) is rich in humor as well as mystery and meaning. Whether white or black, living or dead, down home country or upscale urban, Gabriel's characters are quirky, poignant, and deep.

Finding a rare treasure brings trouble and transformation to a coming-of-age boy in this novel by Amazon #1 bestselling southern author Susan Gabriel. Thirteen-year-old Sam lives on a reservation in North Carolina with his beloved grandmother who teaches him the Cherokee ways. To honor his ancestors, Sam hikes to a nearby sacred mountain where he encounters a red-tailed hawk and has a life-threatening fall off a steep trail. Bruised and shaken, he lands at the roots of an ancient oak tree where he discovers, tangled in the roots, an extremely rare star ruby.

On the eve of his father’s death, Tyler Thompson finds himself continually haunted by the memories of things lost. Since that horrible day, he continually gets into trouble, seeking anger as a coping mechanism. That is, until one day, in a tragic turn of events, Tyler, along with his faithful dog Maxx, fall into a cesspool where he is exposed to a mysterious green liquid that changes his DNA, giving him extraordinary powers.

The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. Juli says, "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says, "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort." But in the eighth grade, everything gets turned upside down: Just as Bryce is thinking that there's maybe more to Juli than meets the eye, she's thinking that he's not quite all he seemed.

Growing up in the shadow of his football star brother, Chris, Newt Newman has never felt particularly special. When Chris is knocked into a coma, Newt's two best friends decide that taking him out for Halloween is the best way to cheer him up. Using some of Chris's old, oversized clothes, Newt creates his best costume ever - Captain Nobody!

Meet Benjamin Dragon, a boy with a gift.... Benjamin is smart, really smart. Without asking Benjamin, his parents move to a new town and put him two grades ahead of where he should be. Now a full head shorter than other kids in his new school, Benjamin is a perfect target for bullies. Is he destined to be an outcast once again? Then strange things start happening. A bully brushed aside. A car diverted from smashing into a young girl. Is it coincidence or is Benjamin making them happen?

Twelve-year-old Charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem vastly different—Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Ben is in the small town of Lanester, Louisiana.

Unlike the thousands converging at Moon Shadow to witness a total solar eclipse, Ally calls the isolated campground home. Bree shields herself in a cloak of good looks and popularity, but there is something within her no one suspects. And Jack, overweight and socially inept, finds himself on the verge of a startling possibility.

"This is no ordinary pencil," says the cat sitting on the end of nine-year-old Daniel's bed. "It's magic." Everything Daniel draws with his pencil - flying dragons, Octobears, and pizza-loving aliens from the planet Beezo - comes to life. It's pretty awesome until the pencil draws a line between Daniel and his best (and only) friend Annie. Come along with Daniel and his fantastic creatures on this fun-for-the-whole-family journey as he discovers that friendship is the greatest magic of all.

Amanda is reliving her 11th birthday over and over again - even the fight with her best friend, Leo. How can she fix everything and put the day behind her? Only time, friendship, and luck will tell.

High-school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background. But ever since he got busted for spraying graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn't believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just happens to be Tyler's secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian - the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.

Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you’re in the eighth grade. Dunkin Dorfman, birth name Norbert Dorfman, is dealing with bipolar disorder and has just moved from the New Jersey town he’s called home for the past 13 years. This would be hard enough, but the fact that he is also hiding from a painful secret makes it even worse. One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change.

Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated; that is until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her high school status from loser to hero overnight. But with her new found fame brings misfortune in the form of an old family curse come to light. Mina is a descendant from the Brothers Grimm and has inherited all of their unfinished fairy tale business which includes trying to outwit a powerful Story from making her its' next fairy-tale victim.

Katie Parker is about to get a new life - whether she wants one or not. With her mom in prison, and her father AWOL, Katie is sent to live with a squeaky-clean family who could have their own sitcom. She launches a full-scale plan to get sent back to the girls home, when she finds herself in over her head...and heart.