Commended for the 2008 Best Books for Kids and Teens, short-listed for the 2008 Snow Willow Award and Ann Connor Brimer Award "No one pays much attention to you if you don't have much to say, so there was no way I could have predicted what would happen when I stopped talking altogether." When his teacher announces that it's time for the yearly class speeches, Griffin Maxwell starts to sweat. His past experience with the dreaded speech was humiliating, to say the least, and he just knows there's no way he can go through that again. So Griffin's best friend, Bryan, comes up with a solution -- one that's so simple it just has to work. But neither boy can begin to predict the bizarre chain of events that will be set in place when Griffin goes along with the idea. From squaring off with the school bully to reading a teacher's private letters, Griffin Maxwell will have to face things he never imagined, and all without saying a word

Short-listed for the Forest of Reading Red Maple Award, 2012 Before you judge me, there are two things you should know about why I did it. Shana Tremain is a good kid. She knows right from wrong and she’s never been in any serious trouble. But when her best friend, Carrie, comes to her for help, Shana agrees to break the law to save Carrie from a molester. She even feels good about it for a while. Then trouble starts. Someone in their group of friends is stealing from the others. As she searches for the truth, Shana uncovers evidence that raises a terrifying question: Has she made a horrible mistake? Faced with the reality of what she’s done, Shana finds herself trapped in a web of her own lies and deceit. Can she convince the right people that she’s telling the truth now? Either way it’s clear someone is going to pay a terrible price for her crime.

Short-listed for the 2012 SYRCA Snow Willow Award Lexie Malton is an average Vancouver teen with fairly typical issues. Her stepmother is far from her favourite person, she has a sister with special needs, and life outside the home is the usual mix of school, friends, and social events. But Lexie has a secret. Her ex-boyfriend, Devlin Mather, is now a heroin addict living on the street, and only Lexie knows that shes the one who put him there. Guilt makes her give in to Devlins demands for money time and time again, even though she knows how dangerous his drug use is. Lexie finally gathers the strength to stop enabling Devlin. But when he seeks treatment for his addiction, Lexie finds herself drawn back to him, never guessing what a dark and deadly path she has just chosen. Devlin relapses, and his desperation leads to an act that will change both of their lives forever.

At last, Shelby Belgarden has put her crime-solving behind her and has returned to the life of an ordinary teenager. Now 16, she has taken her first job: working at a new local restaurant called The Steak Place. But when one of her co-workers — a waitress named Nadine — goes missing, Shelby suspects foul play. The police won’t believe her. Neither will Shelby’s boyfriend, Greg, who grows frustrated with her search for a criminal who may not exist.