While trying to outwit the soldiers who are occupying their small town, fourteen-year-old Daniel, who cannot lie, and Emily, who discovers she has magical powers, are inexplicably drawn to a mysterious island in the heart of the forest where townsfolk have been warned never to go.

Alec Schuyler has two immediate problems: what to do with the rest of his life, and what to do about Suze Matheson. She's his date for the Winter Dance. And she's got trouble of her own. The English teacher, Mr. "Call me Mark" Truscott, has made a move on her, a move which Sky has witnessed from his hiding place in a coat closet. Fifteen-year-old Sky is not one for making scenes -- or even speaking up. Instead he speaks through his music, his jazz...

Bothered by insomnia, nightmares, and claustrophobia, sixteen-year-old Dana sees a therapist who hypnotizes her into remembering past lives, involving her in an age-old mystery and causing her to question what kind of person she is.