Realistic Fiction
Along for the RideWhen Auden impulsively goes to stay with her father, stepmother, and new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents' divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends and having new experiences such as learning to ride a bike and dating.
Because I am FurnitureAnke’s father is abusive to her brother and sister. But not to her. To him, she is like furniture, not worth even the worst kind of attention. Then Anke makes the school volleyball team. As Anke learns to call for the ball on the court, she finds a voice she never knew she had. For the first time, Anke is making herself seen and heard, working toward the day she will be able to speak up loud enough to rescue everyone at home— including herself.
Boy21Finley, an unnaturally quiet boy who is the only white player on his high school's varsity basketball team, lives in a dismal Pennsylvania town that is ruled by the Irish mob. When his coach asks him to mentor a troubled African American student who has transferred there from an elite private school in California, he finds that they have a lot in common in spite of their apparent differences.
Down to the BoneWhen Shai's texts from her girlfriend Marlena are confiscated and read during class, her mom finds out what her A-student daughter's been doing behind her back and kicks her out of the house. Soon Shai becomes involved with an unusual group of friends. Can a discarded free-thinker turn the corner into a world as exciting and painful as her first love and create a new kind of family?
Friends with BoysMaggie McKay hardly knows what to do with herself. After an idyllic childhood of homeschooling with her mother and rough-housing with her older brothers, it’s time for Maggie to face the outside world, all on her own. But that means facing high school first. And it also means solving the mystery of the melancholy ghost who has silently followed Maggie throughout her entire life. Maybe it even means making a new friend—one who isn’t one of her brothers.
Looking for AlaskaMiles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek
what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally. The Orange HousesMeet Tamika Sykes: she's hearing impaired and way too smart for her West Bronx high school. She copes by reading lips and selling homework answers, and looks forward to the time each day when she can be alone in her room drawing. Tamika never gets close to anyone, until she meets Fatima, a teenage refugee who sells newspapers on their block. Both Tamika and Fatima unite in their efforts to befriend Jimmi, a homeless vet who is shunned by the rest of the community.When these three outcasts converge, their close-knit community will change forever in explosive and unexpected ways.
The OutsidersAccording to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.
Punkzilla"Punkzilla" is on a mission to see his older brother "P", before "P" dies of cancer. Still buzzing from his last hit of meth, he embarks on a days-long trip from Portland, Ore. to Memphis, Tenn., writing letters to his family and friends. Along the way, he sees a sketchier side of America and worries if he will make it to see his brother in time.
Some Girls AreRegina Afton used to be a member of the most feared, revered clique at Hallowell High -- until vicious, untrue rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. Regina takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit whom she used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, but as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend.
Under the MesquiteWhen Lupita learns Mami has cancer, she is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit family. While her father cares for Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her seven younger siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she takes refuge in the shade of a mesquite tree, where she escapes the chaos at home to write. Forced to face her limitations in the midst of overwhelming changes and losses, Lupita rediscovers her voice and finds healing in the power of words.
Will Grayson, Will GraysonOne cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage.
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As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the EarthIt’s summer vacation and 15-year-old Ry is on a train headed west to archaeology camp while his parents sail the Caribbean in their boat. Ry walks away from the stalled train to make a quick cellphone call, and watches as it leaves without him — stranding him in the “strange eroded hills” of Montana and on a whole new path. Maybe it was the middle of nowhere, but to Ry, it felt like the beginning of something. Something that would take him in cars, planes, boats . . . over an ocean and back. Something like an adventure.
Born ConfusedDimple Lala doesn't know what to think. Her parents are from India, and she's spent her whole life resisting their traditions. Then suddenly she gets to high school and everything Indian is trendy. To make matters worse, her parents arrange for her to meet a "suitable boy." Of course it doesn't go well -- until Dimple goes to a club and finds him spinning a magical web . Suddenly the suitable boy is suitable because of his sheer unsuitability. Complications ensue.
A Certain OctoberScotty compares herself to tofu: no flavor unless you add something. It's Scotty's friends, Misha and Faclone, and her brother, Keone, who make life delicious. But when a terrible accident occurs, Scotty feels responsible for the loss of someone she hardly knew, and the world goes wrong. Her friends are having a hard time getting through to her and her family is preoccupied with their own trauma. But the prospect of a boy, a dance, and the possibility that everything can fall back into place soon help Scotty realize that she is capable of adding her own flavor to life
Dreamland Social ClubJane, her twin brother Marcus, and their father have been on the road since her mother's departure years ago, but when they inherit a house on Coney Island, Jane not only begins to find a home, she learns much about her mother, too.
The Great Wide SeaBen, Dylan, and Gerry are still mourning their mother's death when their dad decides to buy a boat and take them on a year-long sailing trip. Tensions flare between Ben and his father, but they gradually learn to live together in close quarters. Then one morning the boys wake up to discover their father has disappeared - and they are lost. What happened to him? Where are they? And what will they do when a terrible storm looms on the horizon?
If I staySeventeen year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make.
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway ParkBest friends and unofficial brothers for years, ninth-graders T.C. and Augie have got the world figured out. But that all changes when both friends fall in love for the first time. Enter Alé: she's pretty, sassy, and on her way to Harvard. T.C. falls hard, but Alé is playing hard to get. Meanwhile, Augie realizes that he's got a crush on a boy. It's not so clear to him, but to his family and friends, it's totally obvious. Told in alternating perspectives, this is the hilarious and touching story of their most excellent year, where these three friends discover love, themselves, and how a little magic and Mary Poppins can go a long way.
Ostrich BoysRoss is dead, and Blake, Sim, and Kenny are furious. To make it right, they steal Ross's ashes and set out from their home on the English coast for the tiny village of Ross in southern Scotland, a place their friend had always wanted to go. What follows is an unforgettable journey with illegal train rides, bungee jumping, girls, and high-speed police chases--all with Ross's ashes along for the ride. As events spin wildly out of control, the three friends must take their heads out of the sand long enough to answer the question: What really happened to Ross?
Say the WordShawna Gallagher dates the right boys, gets good grades, and follows her father’s every rule. But when her estranged lesbian mother dies, it’s more than perfect Shawna can take. Suddenly, anger from being abandoned ten years ago resurfaces, along with Shawna’s embarrassment over her mother’s other family. As she confronts family secrets and questions from the past, Shawna realizes there’s a difference between doing the perfect thing and doing the right thing.
Sucker PunchShy, seventeen-year-old Marcus and his sixteen-year-old brother, Enrique, accompanied by two friends, drive from their home in southern California to Monterey to confront the abusive father who walked out a year earlier, and who now wants to return home.
Take a BowFor Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of them as they head out into the world.
Why I Fight: A NovelLeft alone for days on end, twelve-and-a-half-year-old Wyatt Reaves burns down the family house. His parents lose everything so Wyatt’s uncle, Spade, whisks him away to "safety." Spade may not feel tenderly toward his strapping nephew, but he does see potential in the boy: The two travel across America for the next six years, living off Wyatt’s earnings as a fighter and the goodness of his uncle’s lady friends. As Wyatt develops a sense of who he is not, he must question who he is—and what he’s really worth.
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