Alex Cassidy, a fifteen-year-old, must adjust to life at a Chicago boarding school (St. Andrew's School for Boys) while his parents fly around the world as travel-tour directors. To his horror Alex soon discovers that too many boys turn up dead or missing at the century old school--too often. With the aid of his roommate, Ziggy, they attempt to solve mysteries of the prestigious school. Do crypts under the Cathedral contain more than ancient bones? Will Alex survive his junior year?

Cody's mother dies before she can answer the fifteen-year-old's question: ?Who is my father?? Homeless, Cody is first aided by a kindly landlady, later abruptly forced into a sadistic foster home. He flees in desperate search for his real father, but is caught and put into a juvenile facility, from which he narrowly escapes. Free again, he hitchhikes across country, running into people who help, but hindered by others. Jobless and penniless, he learns to survive on the brutal streets. Cody discovers shocking facts about his mother, and as he continues his search, discovers truths about himself before he finds a solution.