Rights and responsibilities is the 2014 theme of National History Day Contest, a broad topic. And I chose to write a just as broad topic of human rights. What are human rights? Is it to prove we're human? Prove that we're humans are right? Or to tell us apart from aliens? Though, now that I think of it, all extraterrestrial beings should have rights as well, but let's just have the Men in Black deal with that- But before getting off of topic, let's focus back on this. As you read about this, think about these questions (not the alien one, unless you want to). Think about what it takes to not only be human, to act like one too. And after you read this, think to yourself. Do you have the right to be human? This essay won first place for the 2014 National History Day essay contest in California.

It's a new year and Gauntlet finalist Codi James is back for round two. With her new position at the top ranked Battlecast Academy and with last year's victor no longer competing, it seems like the fates have aligned to give Codi a clear run at winning the tournament once and for all. Armed with state of the art equipment, a rigorous training schedule and a scholarship fund to let her focus on nothing but the Gauntlet all year round, she has one goal: first place. But this year the game has changed. She's not the plucky underdog anymore. Codi has the weight of expectations on her shoulders, and there are those who view her leap to fame through jealous eyes. This year her battles won't be confined to the arena, and now she has everything to lose. [Sequel to The Gauntlet]

Codi James is a chronic underachiever. A straight C student, her life is going nowhere. Causing havoc at yet another school it looks like she's heading for another expulsion, until one teacher decides to call in a favour from an old friend. Codi is sent to the one place where her aggression might do her some good. Joining the underdeveloped Brax-Delta training academy, Codi is set on the long, bruising path to compete as a champion in the Gauntlet Tournament. Thrown together with a team of other misfits and under the tutorage of a frustrated veteran, she has one chance left to prove that she's more than just a struggling orphan. Never underestimate a desperate person. WINNER OF 2014 WATTPAD PRIZE FOR BEST EPIC

What if the person you trusted the most suddenly became a stranger, who desperately wanted you dead? And if an hour later, they were back to normal? Detective Jack Arnette was a respected cop, before a hostage situation went horribly wrong. Victor Slade is a meditating, hedonistic cop-killer. When Victor makes a pickup at the Seattle docks, Jack sees a chance for redemption. A simple arrest. Respect regained. But events spin out of control when Jack and Victor are quarantined with the dock workers and a virus that can make anyone go temporarily homicidal. Trapped by a SWAT team with orders to shoot anyone who leaves the building, Jack must deal with a cop-killer who has little to lose, and a group of innocents who could become just as dangerous. Who would you trust when anyone could become a killer?

The aliens currently governing Earth took Sam and other children to be raised on their homeworld. They tell him humans have the chance to be great. They tell him he'll be a representative of his species. A hero. But the protests that follow Sam's homecoming say otherwise. He and the other cadets are both pitied and despised - anything but respected. And if Sam is going to give humanity that shot at greatness, he needs more than their attention. He needs their trust. Loosely inspired by the story of Daniel in the Bible.

Akemi and Claire have never met in the flesh, but both are victims of an alien’s obsession. Akemi survived her ordeal but only as a hybrid bio-computer. And Claire survived hers as well. She escaped the zoo were she’d been captive. After three years. Her nightmare was over. But a lone human far from Earth has few options. And the one man who might help Claire evade her masochistic owner believes her to be a fake – an alien who’s taken human form. Don’t miss the latest installment of the Alien Cadet series, a far-flung space opera that explores the boundaries of isolation, fear, and redemption.