MG/YA NOVELS

Christina Black squirmed. Sweat dripped down her face and it wasn’t from the South Florida sunshine. Her mother's hair was gone. There were five or six bottles of pain killers lined up on the kitchen counter.

"Christina, where are you?" Mrs. Black called. "I want you to sit and read to me honey."

Christina's green eyes watered and she pushed back her black bangs. They stuck up slightly from all the sweat. "I'll be right in," she shouted. Her voice cracked a little. She grabbed her mother's pain pills and placed them on a tray with some toast. "Okay mom, I'm ready," Christina said.

She peered around the door to see her mother's head wrapped in a handkerchief. Her mom was so skinny and frail. A big lump clogged Christina's throat. There was saliva stuck in the corners of her mother’s mouth making her look half alive. Slowly Mrs.Black's eyes fluttered closed.

Christina put the tray down on the end table and crept out the front door. She raced towards her favorite spot. It was at the end of the street on a private boating dock. She collapsed onto the dock and burst into tears. Her mom couldn't have cancer. She was only thirteen. What would she do without her mother?

Alice failed. Now, it’s Heather’s turn.

Did you ever hear the old saying, Ignorance is Bliss? That’s how it was for Heather and her friends. Life at the carnival was normal. Then, one small event, catapulted them into reality–into what they really were…

Freaks.

Heather and her friends discover just how strange they are when they are forced to step into our world. They see what life is like in various cultures and unravel a dark history that’s been buried deep by their relatives. When they learn the truth, can they forgive and move on? Or, will the hate consume them like it did their parents? Will they find the same misfortune as Alice, who was hanged for trying to change the world? Or, will their bond of friendship be too strong to allow the world around them to corrupt the way they view each other?