"When Bo Seo was 8 years old, he and his family migrated from Korea to Australia. At the time, he did not speak English, and, unsurprisingly, struggled at school. But, then, in fifth grade, something happened to change his life: he discovered competitive debate. Immediately, he was hooked. It turned out, perhaps counterintuitively, that debating was the perfect activity for someone shy and unsure of himself. It became a way for Bo not only to find...

"A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition...But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can't stand him. Unfortunately, he'll be competing in the state league...But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated...and her participation in the tournament reveals that she might have tragically...

Star athelete and prom king Ezra Faulkner's life is irreparably transformed by a tragic accident and the arrival of eccentric new girl Cassidy Thorpe.

"The lyceum movement gained momentum in the decades preceding the Civil War, presenting members the opportunity to participate in literary life and discuss the issues of the day. While urban lyceums played host to a who's who of nineteenth-century intellectual life, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony, literary societies also cropped up in thousands of villages across the nation,...