Jonathan Stiles is a 14-year-old atheist who is coping with his first day of ninth grade at the fervently religious St. Soren's Academy when his idolized older brother Ryan is found dead. As his world crumbles, Jonathan meets an eccentric stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesus Christ (except for his white linen leisure suit and sparkling gold chains). Jesus Jackson, as he calls himself, offers to provide faith to Jonathan. He also suggests that Ryan's death may not have been an accident after all. With the help of his new friend, Henry, and Ryan's grieving girlfriend, Tristan, Johnathan sets out to discover the truth about Ryan's death - and about God, high school, and the meaning of life, while he's at it. But he's distracted by Cassie - number one suspect Alistair's younger sister - who holds the keys to the answers Jonathan is searching for, but who also makes him wonder if he should be searching for them at all.

When loner Faith Flores finds her mother dead of an apparent overdose, she refuses to believe that's the case. Sure, her mom made some bad decisions, but leaving her daughter would never be one of them. Unfortunately, the cops are all too eager to close the case and move on, sending a distraught and unsatisfied Faith to live with her Aunt T in the suburbs of Philadelphia. But a note from Melinda, her mom's junkie friend, prompts Faith to begin digging, igniting her passion in science and her need for answers. Faith soon discovers Melinda and her mother had participated in an experimental clinical trial to treat heroin addiction. Then Melinda also turns up dead from an apparent overdose. Now Faith is pulling out all the stops in her search for truth, cutting school, lying to her aunt, her best friend, even the police. The only person she can't lie to is new boy Jesse, whose brutal honesty is a welcome respite from the mountain of misinformation uncovered by her investigation. Faith's investigation takes her through the myriad back alleys and laboratories of Philly, all the way to one of the most powerful scientists in town. But when the medical examiner's body is found in the Schuylkill River, Faith realizes if she doesn't find who's behind the sinister science and its cover-up, she could be next.

Egypt's first female pharaoh disappears around 1457 BCE --- was she murdered? Find out how DNA closes the case. The ancient Arabian Peninsula city of Ubar vanishes, seemingly without trace. Find out how old maps and modern space shuttles help solve the mystery. Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage is never heard from again. Find out how spectroscopy points to some probable explanations. Case Closed? examines these and six other mysteries from ancient and modern times. Accompanied by photos, maps, diagrams and illustrations, this book reveals how modern science sheds new light on people, vessels and entire civilizations throughout history that simply vanished. In some cases, the mystery has been solved. In other cases, readers can examine the latest evidence and decide for themselves.

A riveting thriller set at a California prep school!Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.From the Hardcover edition.