Sophie Thwaite feels like a fish out of water-- literally. Moving to Chalance to escape the memories of a brutal relationship, she dives headfirst into the quiet, local college in the hopes to stay out of the spotlight and keep her unwanted identity a secret. But her plan is quickly thrown off track when she catches the eye of Adrian O'Connor. From the moment she sees him, she knows there's something different about him; he emits a power that makes those around him cower away, and to her horror and confusion, she inexplicably drawn to him. Trying to understand the connection between them, Sophie soon realizes that are more supernatural things in the world than just her kind, and not all of them are good. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, COPYRIGHTED NP 2013

Going through my pictures, I went to the one that I had just taken, and the phone slowly slipped out of my grasp. What had escaped my notice before is that the couch I had taken the picture on was against a window, which showed the backyard of the house. But in this picture, it wasn't an empty backyard. No, behind my smiling face was another one, outside the window. It was his face. Covered with a black ski mask, watching me. *** All 19-year-old Layna wanted to do was forget about the guy that broke her heart, and move on with her new boyfriend Brian. But instead, she unwittingly attracted the attention of a stalker. Someone who had been watching her every move for a month, plotting and planning for the perfect moment when he could take her. What Layna never would have expected was that when he finally kidnaps her, she would have to undergo "The Test". The Test that the girls before her had gone through. The one they failed, and payed heavily for. Will she pass The Test or will she die like the others?

Born with a passion for the water and a remarkable talent for swimming, it's no wonder that Rayne Bennett spends more time in the pool than she does on land. But when family secrets become unearthed and lies are uprooted, Rayne realizes that her passion for the water goes farther back than she could have ever imagined. When Rayne finds herself moving back to her quiet birthplace of Shady Cove, things start to unravel even faster. What really happened to her mother, who had (supposedly) been killed thirteen years ago? Why does Rayne feel such an intimate connection with the ocean? The answers, as she will soon find out, come at a cost so great that her life-as well as the lives of those she loves-is in grave danger. Though she doesn't know it, Rayne is the key to unlocking the mysteries that dwell just beneath the ocean's surface. She is the answer to the secrets of the deep. [ adventure #5, fantasy #6 ]

**Wattys 2016 Winner!** Fifteen-year-old Emmeline Jefferson doesn't have time away from the Demons. Not a minute to say goodbye to her family, not a moment to wonder "Why me?" Every second she's not possessed is spent begging stranger after stranger for help. But no one believes a sporadic girl who claims Demons have spent more time in her body than she has. No one until she finds Dumaine. Dumaine Chartres's whole life fits in his accordion case, his friends are nonexistent, and this fascinating girl is telling him Demons exist. These things all make perfect sense. What he doesn't understand is why humans have such outrageous issues with murder. Death is natural. If he wasn't supposed to kill anyone, they wouldn't have died. Nobody even noticed the bodies anyway. In return for a break from his internal demons, Dumaine offers Emmeline help, and she's willing to receive it from anyone. Maybe this boy can finally be the keeper she needs. Maybe chasing these Demons can explain why he's so different from everyone else. Maybe this friendship can work. With a wise but demented old man, and enough determination to perturb the Demons, Emmeline and Dumaine concoct a plan to unriddle their lives. The first step is to confront the Demon's creator. But something else seems to have found the creator first. And it only looks like an Angel. Human Spines is part one of a YA dark Urban Fantasy written in a style similar to Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me and Elana Johnson's Possession. It's the first of a series and told from the viewpoints of Emmeline, Dumaine, and their rambling but wise navigator, Hans. Through a diverse cast, it explores themes of learned distrust, fear of the unknown, and the battle against the evil inside us all, in a way similar to a Studio Ghibli film. Cover by ecclesia-