Lissa, 16, a seemingly happy but quiet teenager, commits suicide, leaving her closest friends bewildered and confused. Reflecting upon some of their past conversations with Lissa and feeling guilty for not having recognized her warnings, the teens decide to take action towards helping others in distress. They establish Ears, a telephone hotline at their high school, and make it a success in spite of the pessimism of the authorities. In a time span of six weeks, suspense builds as readers share common concerns with the protagonists. Whether Ears will survive and how the teens will manage their lives while maintaining the hotline sets the scene and provides fodder for this new series. Strong characterizations, realistic conversations, interesting subplots, and unresolved conflicts make the book difficult to put down. Meyer offers a candid, well-researched account concerning the causes and prevention of teen suicide without the didacticism and morbidity that often hamper books of this sort. YAs will welcome this book, as it offers a solution with sensitivity and understanding. —Linda Zoppa, Queens College Laboratory Schools Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. (From School Library Journal)

Hotline volunteer Kurt Lundquist's telephone relationship with a caller, Sidney, leads to personal involvement and heartbreak when he feels compelled to save her from making a drastic mistake and discovers the limitations of the hotline

In this, the 4th book in the Hotline series, Lan Nguyen wants to do the right thing. He has no doubts about where he stands on drugs. Drugs are bad, people who use them are fools, people who sell them are criminals. Then the high school hotline starts getting more and more drug-related calls, and Lan finds that it isn't quite that simple. Drugs aren't Lan's only worry. His sister and nephew need a safe home, and Lan is determined to provide it any way he can. He's already working two jobs outside of his regular school hours. And then there's the viola given him by his friend Lissa, before she killed herself. Can he afford to keep it? And what about April; sometimes it seems she's ready to give up on him. Is he going to be able to keep it all together - and do the right thing?