Marie K

Evan and Alma are in love, but they couldn't be more different: he's from a wealthy Georgia family, while she and her family are undocumented Mexican immigrants. Their relationship is threatened when their town begins deporting its illegal residents. Though the story's obvious political viewpoint is presented at the expense of character development, it succeeds in humanizing a controversial issue.

As winter wanes in the mountain regions of Colorado, Nashoba, an aging wolf, struggles to find fresh game for his pack, all the while desperately trying to hold on to his alpha status. He knows full well that his true survival depends not on besting an eager challenger but on the next kill, which will produce life-saving food. A shrewd raven named Marla, seeking an unlikely partnership, offers to help Nashoba hunt if he will let her share the leavings. In a parallel story, thirteen-year-old Casey also dreams of kills, but those that are from a video game he plays incessantly. These kills are both spectacular and numerous, and his appetite for real-world hunting is whetted when he receives a bow-and-arrow set for his birthday. These two stories—of one struggling with decreased killing power and one full of his own increasing power