Full AspenCat Catalog

Here name is Elise Freeman and her chilling cry for help comes too late to save her. On a DVD found near her lifeless body, the emotionally and physically battered woman chronicles a year-and-a-half long ordeal of monstrous abuse at the hands of three sadistic tormentors. But even more shocking is the revelation that the offenders, like their victim, are teachers at one of L.A.'s most prestigious prep schools. With Elise now dead, homicide detective...

"The banner in Rafe Esquith's classroom at Hobart Elementary School reads: "There are no shortcuts." And his students are a testament to the power of that philosophy. These are kids who speak English as a second language, fourth- and fifth-graders who go to school in a part of Los Angeles where violence and despair are the norms of the neighborhood. But the statistics are not what you'd expect: Esquith's students score in the country's top 10 percent...

Fifteen-year-old RD is repeating the eighth grade, planning to have an easy year, but after his grandmother walks out her boyfriend is no longer able to care for him, which leaves RD to fend for himself while avoiding being caught.