Seventeen-year-old Jemma's older brother took her in when she needed to get away from her abusive ex-boyfriend, Razor. All Jemma wants now is to be a good mom to her baby daughter, Violet. But one night she needs to go out, just for a few minutes, to get diapers and ice cream. On her way back, she witnesses the drive-by shooting of a kid, Kwame, who lives in the same building. The driver is Razor. Jemma is terrified. If she tells anyone what she saw,...

Wendell "Stony" Stoneking is not one to worry. Everyone likes him. His girlfriend is gorgeous and very willing to please-anytime, anywhere. He is the star of his high school football team. And when he graduates, there's a steady job in the gravel quarry waiting for him. Then he meets Robyn, a single mom with a dark past. Suddenly Stony is more bothered than he has been in a long time-not only by the violence Robyn has endured, but by the danger she...

Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will forever be known as "Prom Mom"--the girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked. But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realizes she can have a second chance--as long as she stays away from...

In this harrowing tale, sixteen-year-old Precious Jones has endured a broken home under the most horrific circumstances. Impregnated by her rapist father, Precious prepares for the birth of her second child as she runs away from home and befriends a counter-culture teacher who whisks her away on a soul-searching journey.

In this heart-wrenching story of an open adoption gone wrong, Caroline Leavitt's Girls in Trouble reveals the astonishing power of family bonds and maternal love. Sara is sixteen and pregnant. Her once-devoted boyfriend seems to have disappeared, so she decides her best and only option is an open adoption with George and Eva, a couple desperate for a child. After the birth it's clear Sara has a bond with the child that Eva can't seem to duplicate....

"One child preacher traveling across the plains. One young woman with a mysterious touch. Two old friends, their baby, and their bloodhound. And all the stars that shine above them. When fifteen-year-old Marigold becomes pregnant amid the Great Depression, she is rejected by her family and forced to fend for herself. And when she loses her baby in the forest, her whole world turns upside down. She's even more distraught upon discovering she has an...

Relentless, remorseless, and inspirational, this "horrific, hope-filled story" ("Newsday") is certain to haunt a generation of readers. Precious Jones, 16 years old and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of transformation and redemption.

In a powerful sequel to Crank, Kristina is determined to manage her addiction to crack in order to keep her newborn child, but when she is unable to manage her use of the drug and the pull becomes too strong, her greatest fears are quickly realized.

"One baby girl. Two strong Southern women. And the most difficult decision they'll ever make. Frances "Khaki" Mason has it all: a thriving interior design career, a loving husband and son, homes in North Carolina and Manhattan-everything except the second child she has always wanted. Jodi, her husband's nineteen-year-old cousin, is fresh out of rehab, pregnant, and alone. Although the two women couldn't seem more different, they forge a lifelong connection...