Ever since her mother left, Maia has struggled with depression, which has only gotten worse since her father remarried; so Maia decides to run away to Canada to find her mother, together with Billy, a boy who now lives in a group home and has his own family tragedy--but when they finally arrive in Tadoussac, Quebec, Maia discovers that even her mother has been keeping secrets.

After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agora phobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.

My name is Julia. This is the story of the summer I almost lost my mum, and found a shark older than trees. Don't worry though, that doesn't spoil the ending. Ten-year-old Julia loves the mysteries of the ocean, just like her scientists mother. Her family is spending the summer on a remote island where her mom is searching for the elusive Greenland shark, a creature that might be older than the trees, and so rare that it's only been seen a few times....