Urban underground

"Destini Fletcher hates Tubman High from day one. When Tyron Becker singles her out, Destini is thrilled to be a part of Tyron's crowd. But he scorns her budding friendships with Alonee, Jaris, and Sami, and mocks her attempts to earn good grades. Do her excuses for Tyron's increasingly brutal behavior and bad attitude put her at risk?"--Publisher's web site.

Jaris Spain has a hard time believing in himself. Between his pessimistic father, his falsely optimistic mother, his failure at sports, difficulty in the classroom, and inability to be noticed by the one girl that matters to him, Jaris struggles to find his own place in the world.

When Trevor's mother discourages his relationship with known troublemaker Vanessa, Trevor hides it from his family and friends.

When Naomi gets her first job, she gets an immediate raise that makes her suspicious of the owner who causes her to become uncomfortable by gazing steadily.

"The robberies in the barrio are becoming increasingly bold and unsettling. After a recent robbery, Ernesto swears that he recognizes a suspect fleeing the crime scene. But is he jumping to conclusions unfairly? After all, Cruz isn't the only tattooed guy known to wear a hoodie in the neighborhood."--P. [4] of cover.

"What is Paul Morales hiding? Pretty and popular Carmen Ibarra is excited when Paul asks her on a date. But she has to convince her family that Paul is respectable, a difficult task considering his gangbanger friends. Will bad-boy Paul break Carmen's heart or is he the real deal?"--P. [4] of cover.

Oliver and Alonee investigate when science teacher Mr. Buckingham becomes the target of vandalism, but Alonee is not sure if she should trust Oliver's instincts about the crimes.

Ernesto knows he should be supporting Carmen Ibarra's father who is running for city council against the corrupt incumbent Monte Esposito, but Monte is his girlfriend Naomi's cousin and he doesn't want to upset her already volatile family.

After Naomi's brother Orlando leaves, she is determined to bring the family back together again.

Chelsea Spain, tired of her father's harsh rules, decides to take some risks with her life, but when her immature friends start egging her on more and more, she is not sure every temptation is worth it.

Lydell Nelson was a senior now, but hardly anyone in the class knew him. During lunch, he was always writing in a journal. Nobody ever bothered to ask him what he was writing, and he never volunteered any information. Lydell seemed to be a lonely person. But when people tried to be friends, he just turned them away.

"With the state of mind Trevor was in, Vanessa could talk him into anything. Would Vanessa get Trevor involved in crime again? It could happen, only this time Trevor might not be so lucky. But back then, Trevor had had enough brains to dump her. Now he was in deeper. The web Vanessa had woven around him was stickier and tighter"--P. [4] of cover.

Chelsea and her friends at Harriet Tubman High School avoid and ridicule the strange Shadrach, a homeless man with a deformed face, but her attitude towards Shadrach begins to change when she helps him rescue wounded opposums.

After spending two years in prison, David Morales lives an honest life and falls in love with one of his new coworkers. When the topic of his past comes up, however, he wonders if he should tell her the truth.

Ernesto Sandoval looks forward to starting his senior year as class president, but he soon discovers that he has enemies who want to make his life miserable.

Jaris, having hired Amberlynn for a position at the Chicken Shack, starts to question his motives for giving her the position and his feelings for Sereeta after Trevor begins spreading a rumor that Jaris has a crush on Amberlynn.

Kevin had been talking about how much he wanted some real money, and that he'd do almost anything to get it. Jaris could sympathize with Kevin wanting to help his grandparents out, but wanting--needing--money that desperately was dangerous. It led to getting mixed up with the wrong crowd. Jaris always thought Cory Yates had drug connections in Los Angeles. He was a two-bit hustler, and he spent way too much time hanging around high schools.

When Naomi's trouble-making cousin comes to live with her and her parents, Naomi is shocked at her cousin's bad behavior--she refuses to do chores or homework, and being responsible is not in her nature. Naomi will have to help her behave, or else her cousin will get in more trouble than she can get out of.

Even though Clay Aguirre is still a bad boy, cheerleader Mira takes him back as her boyfriend, hoping to change him into a better person.

When a homeless man is found murdered, members of Chavez High begin to feel guilty for teasing the poor man only hours earlier, and are shocked when one of their own is implicated in the man's death.