Suzanne LaFleur

When twelve-year-old Elise, orphaned since age three, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope.

While living with her Gram in Vermont, eleven-year-old Aubrey writes letters as a way of dealing with losing her father and sister in a car accident, and then being abandoned by her grief-stricken mother.

Mathilde escapes war-torn Sofarende and reunites with Megs and the other children who are working for the army to retake Sofarende from the enemy, but Mathilde must come to terms with her past treasonous actions and determine what she must do in order to prove her friendship to Megs. A war took Mathilde away from her family when she was chosen to serve her country, Sofarende, with other children working on a secret military project. But now the...