Pete Cross

"Seattle teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall wakes sporting one hell of a shiner, with the police knocking at his door. It seems that his new crush, dancer Camilo Rodriguez, has gone missing and they suspect foul play. Determined to find answers, pint-sized, good-hearted Hayden seeks out two of Camilo's friends--Hollister and Burley--both lesbians and both fiercely devoted to their friend. From them, Hayden learns that Camilo is a 'Dreamer'...

"Astrid has loved the stars and space for as long as she can remember. "I want to be an astronaut!" she says to everyone who will listen. While her mama is away, Astrid and her papa have fun acting out the challenges an astronaut faces on a space mission -- like being in zero gravity ("I can do that all day long!" she says), eating food from a kind of tube, and doing science experiments with the help of cookie sheets. When at last it's time to meet...

"Every great scientist started out as a kid. Before their experiments, inventions, and discoveries that changed the world, the world's most celebrated scientists had regular-kid problems just like you. Stephen Hawking hated school and preferred to spend his free time building model airplanes, inventing board games, and even building his own computer. Jane Goodall got in trouble for bringing worms and snails into her house. And Neil deGrasse Tyson...

"Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Christie, and Cory Booker were ready to reform our failing schools. They got an education. When Mark Zuckerberg announced in front of a cheering Oprah audience his $100 million pledge to transform the Newark Schools -- and to solve the education crisis in every city in America -- it looked like a huge win for then-mayor Cory Booker and governor Chris Christie. But their plans soon ran into a constituency not so easily moved...

"John Lisle reveals the untold story of the OSS Research and Development Branch--The Dirty Tricks Department--and its role in World War II. In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William "Wild Bill"...

"So begins Destination Unknown -- it's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is. C.J. isn't just out -- he's complete out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night. A connection occurs. Is it friendship? Romance? Is C.J. the one with all the answers... or does Micah bring more to the relationship...

Tired of being known as "the gay kid", Rafe Goldberg decides to assume a new persona when he comes east and enters an elite Massachusetts prep school--but trying to deny his identity has both complications and unexpected consequences.

Janesville, Wisconsin, 1994. Amy is both the worst and the best thing that's ever happened to Craig. He is an awkward, Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek; she is the beautiful, fiercely intelligent student-body president of their high school. They got together. Until Amy dumped him. Then got back together with him. Then dumped him again. Then got back together with him again. Over and over and over. Over their senior year, as Craig fights for his dream...

"Haunting essays from acclaimed author Laird Hunt balance intimate remembrance with an examination of the writing life. In this new collection of nonfiction from the celebrated author of Zorrie, Laird Hunt uses fiction as an inspiration, a tool, even an obsession, employing its methods to get to the heart of experience. The "sizzling" work of Jane Bowles colors his wanderings through Palermo, while a London museum trip provokes a consideration of...

"December 6, 1941: Best friends Frank and Stanley have it good. Their dads are Navy pilots stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the boys get a front-row view of the huge battleships and the sparkling water. Yes, World War II is raging in Europe and in Asia, but the US isn't involved in the war, and the boys are free to dream about becoming comic book creators. They've even invented a superhero of their own, in the style of Batman, Superman, Captain...