The Irish Skateboard Club, Paperback/Brinn Colenda

Sixteen-year-old Michael Callahan is even more confused than the average teenager about who he is, having been born in Bolivia and adopted as a baby by an Irish-American family in New Mexico. Determined to lock in a self-identity, he enrolls in semester abroad in a prestigious Irish high school, where he finds himself in a totally new environment-geographical, social, and academic. He quickly slams into conflict with Irish authorities, with his Irish host parents, and with his school. His skateboarding skills help him make friends. He encounters his first love-the feisty, fascinating, and lovely Ciara. Together they stumble upon a Russian Red Mafiya ring trafficking young girls through Ireland. Unable to convince Irish and American authorities of the human trafficking, Michael, Ciara, and their skateboard friends are faced with the most dangerous choice of their young lives-pursue the murderous Russians and save the girls or simply ride away to save themselves.