Told from the perspective of three seemingly unconnected teenagers, Called Upon steers the adolescent reader through a series of twists and turns that merge together with jaw-dropping results. Kaitlin, the social pariah of her high school, is so relieved to have made friends at Camp Overlook that she is willing to look past the camp's anomalies: creepy counselors, 24-hour video surveillance, and campers disappearing quietly into the night. Dr. Forsythe, the mastermind behind the Overlook experiment, explains that Kaitlin has a genetic gift-one which laid dormant until her stay at summer camp. Having never considered herself normal, let alone special, Kaitlin is dazzled to have an ability with world-changing implications. After a terrifying warning from Dr. Forsythe's embittered son and then discovering a dead body in the doctor's walk-in freezer, Kaitlin must decide whether to embrace her new gift and follow Dr. Forsythe or use her gift to defeat the very system from which it was created. By the end, readers come away from Called Upon feeling surprised and exhilarated, they will also, like Kaitlin, leave with a new understanding of their own intrinsic worth and limitless potential.

Hawaii's forest bird community is the most insular and most endangered in the world and serves as a case study for threatened species globally. Ten have disappeared in the past thirty years, nine are critically endangered, and even common species are currently in decline. Thane K. Pratt, his coeditors, and collaborators, all leaders in their field, describe the research and conservation efforts over the past thirty years to save Hawaii's forest birds. They also offer the most comprehensive look at the reasons for these extinctions and attempts to overcome them in the future. Among the topics covered in this book are trends in bird populations, environmental and genetic factors limiting population size, avian diseases, predators, and competing alien bird species. Color plates by award-winning local photographer Jack Jeffrey illustrate all living species discussed or described.