Fallen in Fredericksburg

Fallen in Fredericksburg

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

After three ghosts, it looks like things might be going back to normal for Anderson and his friends Greg and Julie. It's been a while since any ghosts have shown up, and the most annoying things lately are the loud barking dogs at the Dogs and Suds pet-grooming shop next door to the Kitchen Sink. They've been barking nonstop for days, and it's making band practice impossible. But maybe the dogs know something the friends don't . . . Because suddenly a ghost does appear! From what Anderson can tell, it looks like the ghost is a teenage Union soldier from the Civil War, and he looks terrifying. But this ghost is different from the others: He's demanding to know what happened to his brother, who was also enlisted in the Union army. It's a mystery that's over a hundred and fifty years old, and there are very few clues. What will happen to Anderson, Greg, and Julie if they can't solve this one in time?
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On Blood Road

On Blood Road

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

The last place on earth Taylor Sorenson wants to be is in Saigon in the middle of the Vietnam War. His mom dragged him here to visit his dad, who's stationed at the US embassy, and Taylor is bored out of his skull. One night, during an embassy dinner, he decides to sneak out to see the Tet celebrations in the city. But before he makes it very far, fighting erupts across all of South Vietnam—and Taylor is captured by the North Vietnamese Army.Realizing he could be an important bargaining chip, the NVA decides to move Taylor to the North. The only way there is the Ho Chi Ming Trail, a series of dangerous paths that snake from South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia before finally reaching North Vietnam. But thousands have died on the trail, and Taylor doesn't know what's waiting for him at the end.What follows is a harrowing journey during one of the most controversial wars in US history, where one boy is forced to confront the true cost of war, and what it really means...
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What Comes After

What Comes After

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

After her veterinarian dad dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight must leave her beloved Maine to live on a North Carolina farm with her hardbitten aunt and a cousin she barely knows. Iris, a vegetarian and animal lover, immediately clashes with Aunt Sue, who mistreats the livestock, spends Iris's small inheritance, and thinks nothing of striking Iris for the smallest offense. Things come to a head when Iris sets two young goats free to save them from slaughter, and an enraged Aunt Sue orders her brutish son, Book, to beat Iris senseless - a horrific act that lands Book and his mother in jail. Sent to live with an offbeat foster family and their "dooking" ferrets, Iris must find a way to take care of the animals back at the farm, even if it means confronting Aunt Sue. Powerful and deeply moving, this compelling novel affirms the redemptive power of animals and the resilience of the human spirit.
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Sink or Swim

Sink or Swim

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

It's been a month since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. America is officially at war with Germany and Japan, and everyone wants to do their part. In twelve-year-old Colton's case, that means stepping up at home once his older brother, Danny, ships out with the navy. But before Danny leaves for boot camp, the brothers are fishing on the Atlantic Ocean when Danny's boat is capsized by a Nazi U-boat, nearly killing him. When more U-boats start attacking the next day, Colton realizes just how close the enemy is to American shores. With Danny's life in the balance, Colton does the only thing he can think of to help his family and his country: He steals his brother's enlisting papers and joins up instead. Colton's bold decision leads to a deadly journey. Even if he can keep his age a secret and survive boot camp, he'll have to face Hitler's ruthless submarines. But the longer he's on the seas, the less sure sure Colton is that he and his shipmates can stop such a relentless enemy . . .
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AWOL in North Africa

AWOL in North Africa

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

Anderson and his friends Greg and Julie have been doing everything they can to avoid the battered trunk full of old military things in his family's junk shop basement. Only, staying away seems impossible, and this time Anderson discovers a dusty World War II medic's bag inside the trunk. But who does it belong to? Because if the friends have learned anything, it's that they are about to be face-to-face with a ghost. When an army medic ghost appears, Anderson's not sure how to help him. Or if he should help him. The ghost claims he was stationed in North Africa during World War II. But as far as Anderson knows, World War II was fought in Europe. So what's the real story behind this ghost? Can Anderson, Greg, and Julie solve the mystery, or have they become part of a dangerous haunting?
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Juvie

Juvie

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

Heart-wrenching and real, Juvie tells the story of two sisters grappling with accountability, sacrifice—and who will be there to help you after you take the fall. Sadie Windas has always been the responsible one—she's the star player on her AAU basketball team, she gets good grades, she dates a cute soccer player, and she tries to help out at home. Not like her older sister, Carla, who leaves her three-year-old daughter, Lulu, with Aunt Sadie while she parties and gets high. But when both sisters are caught up in a drug deal—wrong place, wrong time—it falls to Sadie to confess to a crime she didn't commit to keep Carla out of jail and Lulu out of foster care. Sadie is supposed to get off with a slap on the wrist, but somehow, impossibly, gets sentenced to six months in juvie. As life as Sadie knew it disappears beyond the stark bars of her cell, her anger—at her ex-boyfriend, at Carla, and at herself—fills the empty space left behind. Can...
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The Secret of Midway

The Secret of Midway

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

History comes alive—with ghosts! In the basement of his family's junkshop, Anderson and his friends Greg and Julie discover a trunk full of old military stuff. Including a battered navy peacoat from World War II, and when Anderson puts it on he finds a mysterious letter in the pocket. Curious, he takes the coat and letter home. But that's not all he brings home...Later that evening the ghost of a World War II sailor appears in Anderson's room. Anderson is completely freaked out. Who is the ghost and why hasn't he crossed over? But most importantly, what does he want with Anderson? Anderson, Greg, and Julie set out to find the truth and are soon wrapped up in a mystery that's over seventy years old. But it quickly becomes a race against the clock as they search to put the clues of sailor's life together before he vanishes for good. After everything he gave for his country, can Anderson, Julie, and Greg solve the mystery of the ghost before he disappears forever?
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Down Sand Mountain

Down Sand Mountain

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

It's 1966 and Dewey Turner is determined to start the school year right. No more being the brunt of every joke. No more "Deweyitis." But after he stains his face with shoe polish trying to mimic the popular Shoeshine Boy at the minstrel show, he begins seventh grade on an even lower rung, earning the nickname Sambo and being barred from the "whites only" bathroom. The only person willing to talk to him, besides his older brother, Wayne, is fellow outsider Darla Turkel, who wears her hair like Shirley Temple and sings and dances like her, too. Through their friendship, Dewey gains awareness of issues bigger than himself and bigger than his small town of Sand Mountain: issues like race and segregation, the reality of the Vietnam War, abuse, sexuality, and even death and grieving. Written in a riveting, authentic voice, at times light-hearted and humorous and at others devastating and lonely, this deeply affecting story will stay with readers long after the book is closed.
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Lost at Khe Sanh

Lost at Khe Sanh

Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins

History comes alive—with ghosts! Anderson finds himself drawn to the old trunk of military relics in the basement of his family's junk shop again. His friends Greg and Julie warn him to stay away from it, but he can't help himself. This time Anderson discovers an old grenade with a strange message scratched into it. But an old grenade is dangerous...especially when the ghost of a soldier appears, claiming that it's his lucky grenade from during his service in the Vietnam War. What does this ghost want from Anderson, Greg, and Julie? Is he here for their help—or for something more sinister? It's a race against time as the friends work to solve the mystery!
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