While searching for an elusive hound dog in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, D.J., a thirteen-year-old Christian, investigates the dumping of hazardous waste at Sudden Lake.

Thirteen-year-old D.J. would rather have a collie than an ugly hound dog until he and Zero join a Christian preacher on a bear hunt in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It is April 1861 and life for three young people in the South changes greatly. Gideon wants to escape the scrabble farm life ; Emily is adjusting to plantation life after growing up in an abolitionist atmosphere ; Nat hopes the confusion of war will provide an opportunity to gain his freedom.

Trapped by a forest fire, D.J. and his injured friend take the only escape route available--a dangerous raft trip down a white-water river.

On a cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico, twelve-year-old Josh Ladd and his friend Tank find themselves involved in a dangerous adventure after a mysterious stranger slips a computer disc into Josh's bag.

Hildy travels with her family to California in search of a better life, only to find that her father's promised job has been given away. Sneered at and called "Okies", they pitch their tent under a bridge among other desitute migrant families.

When thirteen-year-old D.J. and friend Alfred race to prove a legendary white raccoon is real, they stumble upon a dangerous secret and Alfred is swept away in a wild river.

Thirteen-year-old D.J. gets a bad case of "gold fever" when he and Alfred accidentally discover an abandoned--and mysteriously dangerous--gold mine.

When Hildy finds a stolen watch concealing a crude, hand-drawn map, she is accused of the theft and must try to clear her name.