The summer before eighth grade, Alice tries to confront her fears, not the least of which is a fear of deep water.

Kelsey's mother hasn't set foot outside their front door in seventeen years, not since she escaped from her kidnappers with her attacker's baby growing inside her - Kelsey. Kelsey has always kept a low profile for their protection. That is, until she drives off a cliff and is rescued by volunteer firefighter and classmate Ryan Baker. A few days later, Kelsey's mother goes missing. She and her mom have drilled for all contingencies - except this one....

"'Dad, what happened?'...The shootings keep coming, and so do Jeremiah's questions. Dad doesn't have easy answers, but that doesn't mean he won't talk about it - or that he won't act.... Even if he wants to believe in a better world, is there anything Jeremiah can do about it?"--from front jacket flap.

"Each member of Erik Sheepflattener's modern-day Viking-heritage family has a motto to live by. Erik is developing a motto he can truly believe in: avoid stuff. But when he and his older sister Brunhilde spend the summer with their rough-and-tumble cousins in Minnesota, axe-wielding Bru gets the idea to name and conquer all of Erik's fears."--

Ramón is worried about his first day at a new school, but it helps to remind El Cucuy, the monster who lives in his cactus pot, of how brave and strong they both are.

"Logan is disturbed by a mysterious mumbling voice in the boys' room, but when he finds a cell phone floating in the toilet, and reaches in to retrieve it he is caught in a trap--and that is only one of the chilling stories in this collection"--Verso page.

A special Valentine's Day card helps third-grader Harry overcome his fear of climbing the rope in gym class.

It's another scary day at the Black Lagoon . . . for the new teacher, Mrs. Green. There's a new class coming for the first day of school and Mrs. Green is worried. Is it true that the class is really weird and that they put their last three teachers into early retirement? Will the students really turn into horrible ghouls as soon as they get to school? Will Mrs. Green really need her ultimate survival kit to teach the class or tame the class?

Barrett is going to have the best day ever. He gets to go on a field trip to the farm and his best friend is his field trip buddy. Nothing can go wrong today. Or can it? Barrett comes out of the bathroom to find everyone has disappeared. Has Barrett been left behind? After checking every inch of the farm, Barrett must venture into the corn maze. Will he find his class in there? Can Barrett make it through the maze despite his fears?

Now the fearless girl is normal, Gaia is going through all of the typical girl stuff and realizes it's nothing compared to the very real dangers that normal girls face.