Thirteen original monologues for the black girl living during Generation Z. With a mixture of comedic, dramatic, and reflective pieces, the book explores the growing pains of adulthood, microaggressions, mental health, family dynamics, and social identity through the raw and mature eyes of a young black girl.

"Bugs" A partially digested body is found in the oxidation ditch at the Falcon's Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant. Was it an accident...or is new Falcon's Bend Investigator Pete Shasta facing his first murder? "Broken Wings" Just 2 months ago, a runaway daughter Keith Pierce never knew he had landed on his doorstep. Seventeen years earlier, Keith Pierce had a brief, intense affair with a woman on the lam. When Keith returns to Kat's hometown of Falcon's Bend to find his daughter's mother, he discovers that Kat disappeared shortly after giving birth to Quinn. Investigator Pete Shasta solves a decade and a half old missing-person case that's about to turn into murder. "Obsessions" A newborn baby is stolen from Falcon's Bend Community Hospital's maternity ward...and Lt. Pete Shasta's only lead is to the Liace Adoption Agency, which set up the open adoption of the unmarried mother's baby. Case Representative Lisa Mercer is as suspicious and defensive as she is beautiful. Pete finds himself breaking the cardinal rule of investigation-never get emotionally involved with anyone even remotely associated with a case. With a kidnapper who seems to believe there's nothing left to lose and potentially everything to gain, and his own uncontrollable feelings for Lisa, Pete's about to learn just how dangerous obsessions can be. "Blind Revenge" For the first 3 years of her life, Lindsay Bronwyn had nightmares about a witch who wanted her eyes. Nineteen years later, those nightmares have come true when she's found murdered on her kitchen floor, her eye sockets empty. Falcon's Bend Investigator Danny Vincent faces the supernatural to get at a chilling flesh and blood truth. "Fixated" Someone has been following new Falcon's Bend citizen Risa Nitzberg for the past few weeks. Victor Brooks, her neighbor from across the street who's become fixated with Risa from afar, steps in when Risa's creepy stalker decides to get up close and personal.

This is an adorable story of online love in the late Victorian era. It tells about the affection that emerged from the telegraph chat of two operators that had never seen each other before. Although it was written in the 1880s, the story's spirit is amazingly contemporary. The main character wanted to solve the confusion of a misspelled word with another operator, known as "C." From this point, they started exchanging messages. Their story is full of charm—unexpected turns and pitfalls known to everyone who started their relations online.

Some secrets are best left buried... It's been a year since Hailey's boyfriend Declan died, and Hailey is still far from okay. She's lost almost all her friends, her grades are falling, and she pretty much lives wrapped up in bed. Everyone says Declan's death was a suicide—after all, his father's gun was found near his body—but Hailey knows that the happy, confident Declan she knew would never do that. She's positive. The problem is, she can't remember anything from the day he died. Kane, Declan's stepbrother and Hailey's best friend, thinks that everyone should move on—why relive the pain? But when Hailey sees a strange picture with a threatening message amongst Declan's belongings, she's convinced she has proof that there's more to the story. Hailey starts searching for answers and throws herself into memories her subconscious tried to make her forget...and the deeper she looks, the more she remembers. But the truth she uncovers will be more dangerous and more devastating than she could have ever imagined.

From one of Chicago's fiercest emerging writers comes a collection of stories about the heart and its many wanderings.

Sixteen-year-old Dough is surprised when her long-distance boyfriend returns after four years and still finds her beautiful, despite her seventy-pound weight gain, until Dough learns that he is a member of the Luminati.

A place where dreams come true and a nightmare to escape... The boys woke on a tropical island. The girls in the wilderness. They don't know where they are or how they got there. Remembering who they are is only the beginning. Reed will make great sacrifices to find a lost love. Danny Boy will refuse to let the old men win. Cyn will battle through madness. Their escape is through dreamlands of alternate reality, through deceit and temptation, warped memories and stolen identities. In the end, they'll discover the greed that powers Foreveralnd and what it wants in return for making dreams come true. Can they find their way?