Book picks similar to
Cashing In by Susan Colebank


young-adult
realistic-fiction
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Hanging on to Max


Margaret Bechard - 2001
    Sam should be planning for college and trying out for the football team with his best friend, Andy. Instead he's up to his ears in diapers and formula, caring for his baby son, Max. Will Sam now have to make a gut-wrenching decision about Max's future — and his own? A poignant and humorous look at an old problem...with a new twist.

The Comeback Season


Jennifer E. Smith - 2008
    She should be in class, enduring yet another miserable day of her first year of high school. But for once, Ryan isn't thinking about what she should be doing. She's not worried about her lack of friends, or her suffering math grade, or how it's been five whole years since the last time she was really and truly happy. Because she's finally returning to the place that her father loved, where the two of them spent so many afternoons cheering on their team. And on this -- the fifth anniversary of his death -- it feels like there's nowhere else in the world she should be.Ryan is once again filled with hope as she makes her way to the game. Good luck is often hard to come by at a place like Wrigley Field, but it's on this day that she meets Nick, the new kid from her school, who seems to love the Cubs nearly as much as she does. But Nick carries with him a secret that makes Ryan wonder if anyone can ever really escape their past, or believe in the promise of those reassuring words: "Wait till next year." Is it too much for Ryan to hope that this year, this season, might be her comeback season?

Born to Rock


Gordon Korman - 2006
    But Leo is soon thrown for a loop when he discovers that the lead singer of punk rock's most destructive band is his biological father.

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder


Julie Halpern - 2009
    A self-professed “mathelete,” she isn’t sure where she belongs. Her two best friends have transformed themselves into punks and one of them is going after her longtime crush. Her beloved older brother will soon leave for college (and in the meantime has shaved his mohawk and started dating . . . the prom princess!) . . .Things are changing fast. Jessie needs new friends. And her quest is a hilarious tour through high-school clique-dom, with a surprising stop along the way—the Dungeons and Dragons crowd, who out-nerd everyone. Will hanging out with them make her a nerd, too? And could she really be crushing on a guy with too-short pants and too-white gym shoes?      If you go into the wild nerd yonder, can you ever come back?

All We Left Behind


Ingrid Sundberg - 2015
    One moment they’re alone in the middle of a lake, igniting sparks of electricity. The next, they’re on dry land, pretending they’ve never met. But rather than the end, that night is the beginning of something real, terrifying, and completely unforgettable for them both.As Marion and Kurt struggle to build a relationship from the fractured pieces of their pasts, every kiss they share uncovers memories both would rather keep buried. Marion desperately wants to trust Kurt and share the one secret she’s never told anyone—but some truths aren’t meant to be spoken out loud. Kurt is also still haunted by his mother’s death, by the people he hurt, and by the mistakes he can never take back.Explosive together and hollow apart, Marion and Kurt seem totally wrong for each other—but could they turn out to be more right than they ever thought possible?

Everworld Books I & II (Everworld, #1-2)


Katherine Applegate - 2004
    School. Friends. Girlfriends. Actually, Senna was probably the oddest aspect of his life. She was beautiful. Smart. But there was something very different about her. Something strange.Then one day it began. One moment, Senna was with him. The next, she was swallowed up by the earth. David couldn't just let her go and neither could their friends. So David, April, Jalil, and Christopher followed Senna to a world they never could have imagined. Wolves the size of elephants, beings who consider themselves immortal, mythological gods.Now the four friends have to find Senna and get home without losing their lives. Or their minds. Or both...

DJ Rising


Love Maia - 2012
    The first thing I've always heard is music.Meet Marley, an unassuming high school junior who breathes in music like oxygen. In between caring for his heroin-addicted mother, and keeping his scholarship at a fancy prep school, he dreams of becoming a professional DJ.When chance lands Marley his first real DJ job, his career as "DJ Ice" suddenly skyrockets. But when heart-rending disaster at home brings Marley crashing back down to earth, he is torn between obligation and following his dreams.

Thief


Brian James - 2008
    Elizabeth is a pickpocket and thief living on the edge in New York City, torn between loyalty to her foster sister and a new boy who's recruited into their thieving ranks.

Breathing


Cheryl Renee Herbsman - 2009
    But then she meets Jackson. Once they lock eyes, she's convinced he's the one - her true love, her soul mate, a boy different from all the rest. And at first it looks like Savannah is right. Jackson abides by her mama's strict rules, and stays by her side during a hospitalization for severe asthma, which Savannah becomes convinced is only improving because Jackson is there. But when he's called away to help his family - and seems uncertain about returning - Savannah has to learn to breathe on her own, both literally and figuratively.

Second Skin


Jessica Wollman - 2009
    Popularity goes much deeper. . . .Appearances can be deceiving. Sam Klein’s found that out firsthand. All she wanted was to be popular. But sometimes what we want is the absolute worst thing for us.Sam discovers that Kylie, It-girl of Woodlawn High, owes her popular status not to her expensive clothes, highlighted hair, and spot on the cheerleading squad but to a magical second skin. Nobody can actually see it—but they can feel it. And if you’re wearing the skin, you feel incredible. Invincible. Popularity is yours.So Sam stole the skin from Kylie. Now she’s the most popular girl at school, while Kylie’s social life takes a serious hit. Sam can barely recognize herself. Her old geek clique is history—but are her new friends really people she can count on? The skin is clinging tighter to her each day . . . can Sam get it off before it’s too late?

No Safety in Numbers


Dayna Lorentz - 2012
    No one can leave. No one knows what is going on.At first, there's the novelty of being stuck in a mega mall with free food and a gift certificate. But with each passing day, it becomes harder to ignore the dwindling supplies, inadequate information, and mounting panic.Then people start getting sick.Told from the point of view of two guys and two girls, this is a harrowing look at what can happen under the most desperate of circumstances, when regular people are faced with impossible choices. Some rise to the occasion. Some don't.And for some - it's too late.

The Girl in the Park


Mariah Fredericks - 2012
    Written in a voice at once immediate, riveting, and utterly convincing, Mariah Frederick's mystery brilliantly exposes the cracks in this exclusive New York City world and the teenagers that move within it.

Before, After, and Somebody In Between


Jeannine Garsee - 2007
    Her long yellow teeth probably haven't seen a toothbrush in months. I take a chance and smile back, and what do I get? A pudgy middle finger jabbed under my nose.My next thought is: Wow. I may not even survive homeroom. One hour into her first day of tenth grade, Martha Kowalski knows she's really in trouble. The school bully, Chardonnay, has already threatened her life--and at home, things are even worse. Martha's mom, fresh out of rehab, is shacking up with an obnoxious jerk in a neighborhood that can only be described as a "ghetto."More than anything she's ever wanted, Martha wants to play the cello. But even music becomes dangerous to her health--because nothing is what it seems in this place. With  her mother's willpower dissolving,  Martha watches helplessly as her own dreams slip further away.But in an exhilarating twist that would stun even Cinderella, everything changes. A wealthy lawyer invites her into his family's home and Martha is given a chance to start over. The warm, caring Brinkmans treat Martha like one of the family and even though it feels so right, she knows they can't be as perfect as they seem. And she knows that this fairy tale can't last forever… An unforgettable debut, Before, After and Somebody in Between is smart, poignant, and very real.

Life in the Fat Lane


Cherie Bennett - 1998
    Beauty pageant winner, homecoming queen--Lara has the world at her feet.  Until she gets fat.Despite a strict diet and workout schedule, Lara is soon a nameless, faceless, 200-pound-plus teenage blimp.  She's desperate to get her to-die-for body back--and to find an explanation for her rapid weight gain.When she's diagnosed with a mysterious metabolic disorder that has no known cure, Lara fears she'll spend the rest of her life trapped in a fat suit.  Who will stand by her?  Her image-conscious family?  Her shallow friends?  Her handsome boyfriend?  Or will she be left alone in the land of the fat girls?

Poser


Sue Wyshynski - 2010
    The only problem? Tallulah can't surf. After a humiliating near-death experience, her little lie backfires completely and the in-crowd labels her a poser. Only a miracle can save her from outcast hell--one that arrives in the form of a frizzy-haired, nearsighted, completely unhip surfing phenom who takes Tallulah under her wing and teaches her to surf. When an enticing phone call tempts Tallulah to risk her new best friend's trust, Tallulah must prove once and for all that she's no poser; she's the real deal--- as a surfer and, more importantly, as a friend. Full of authentic surfing situations from an author who's caught a wave or two, readers will be hooked by the surf, sun, and teen drama.