A border town in Ancient China is a perilous place—especially for a desolate girl with no father. So, when Cricket bumps into an administrator’s wife with a bag full of copper coins, she eagerly agrees to deliver her firewood. But why does the woman need firewood in the summer? And why do soldiers stop and question them? Does it have anything to do with the raid at Xitang last Spring?A border town in Ancient China is a perilous place—especially for a desolate girl with no father. So, when Cricket bumps into an administrator’s wife with a bag full of copper coins, she eagerly agrees to deliver her firewood. But why does the woman need firewood in the summer? And why do soldiers stop and question them? Does it have anything to do with the raid at Xitang last Spring? The woman is strange, Cricket decides. She’s smart and arrogant, like a man. Too arrogant. Too much like a man. Dangerous like a man. It’s only when they reach the abandoned alley by the docks that Cricket learns how dangerous. There, she must decide whether to join the woman’s cause or risk her own life to defy her.

In the waning days of a war of independence, Commander Theo Paxton of the Dia Nova colony is sent to rescue a team of scientists who disappeared on the planet’s moon. When he arrives with his own team, he discovers a crash site and a single survivor. That survivor acts strangely, and then leads Theo to a discovery that has the potential to change the colony forever.For generations, the colonists of Dia Nova heard stories of a previous failed attempt to colonize the planet. According to Earth, that entire expedition failed with the loss of all colony ships, and half a million colonists. And the reason for that loss was a failure to remain in close contact with Earth. Theo Paxton, and the rest of the Dia Nova residents, had always seen this story as yet another piece of Earth propaganda.Now, in the waning days of their war of independence, Commander Paxton is sent to rescue a team of scientists who disappeared on the planet’s moon. When he arrives with his own team, he discovers a crash site and a single survivor. That survivor acts strangely, and then leads him to a discovery that has the potential to change the colony forever.

Rumors of a runaway carnival act lure three kids into the woods on a search for adventure. What they find there will change the destiny of all three and launch tomboy, Samantha, on a lifelong journey of empowerment, heartbreak, and femininity.Samantha’s getting tired of being mistaken for one of the guys, yet she can’t resist when her crush, Jimmy, invites her to help hunt down a sideshow freak that escaped from a local carnival. It doesn't turn out like she’d hoped, though, and their ill-fated adventure leaves her feeling distant and alone.Only she’s not alone.She soon notices the presence of a strange and mythical creature that seems to follow her around and threaten her friends. She links the creature’s presence to the mutilation of local pets and livestock and, eventually, to the mysterious death of one of her friends.In the end, she must confront the creature along with her own shortcomings in order to save herself, her friends, and her future family.

Grace Robbins, an aging and resentful colonist on a newly independent planet, never learned to accept the original colonists who’d slept through the war, only to awake in a paradise they didn't deserve. But when one of them is brutally murdered, Grace is called upon to do her duty. In the process, she learns a little about what it means to be human, even if her DNA is anything but.When Earth first decided to colonize Dia Nova, they sent human rejects. They were the poor, the stupid, the lame, and the hopeless. That effort failed when the transport ships crashed on landing.Two generations later, Earth tried again. This time, they did it right. They sent people genetically engineered to succeed, along with engineered plants designed to survive in harsh conditions. The people had chlorophyll in their skin, superior intelligence, and the best training available. This time, the mission was a success—right up until the moment they found one the original colony ships still intact and decided to wake the inhabitants from stasis.Soon after, Grace Robbins, an aging and resentful colonist, is forced to confront her prejudices and learn what it’s like to be a reject instead of a superwoman. In the process, she learns a little about what it means to be human, even if her DNA is anything but.