Bad Best Friend


Rachel Vail - 2020
    She and her best friend Ava have shared so many plans for the coming year. But then the unthinkable happens: at gym class pair-up, Ava chooses someone else to be her partner. Niki is devastated. It's clear that Ava wants to be part of the popular group, leaving Niki behind. Niki has to decide who her real friends should be, where her real interests lie. Meanwhile, life at home is complicated. Niki's nine-year-old brother Danny continues to act out more and more publicly. Their mother refuses to admit that Danny is somewhere on the autism spectrum, but it's clear he needs help. Niki doesn't want to be like her brother, to be labeled as different. She just wants to be popular! Is she a bad sister and a bad best friend?

Genie Wishes


Elisabeth Dahl - 2013
    When the school year begins, she’s elected class blogger, and it’s her job to record her class’s “wishes, hopes, and dreams.” But Genie has never been the center of attention, and she struggles to find her voice. What should she write about? Her best friend, Sarah, who’s spending more and more time with the boy-crazy new girl? What about the bras, deodorants, shaved legs, and makeup that seem to be all anyone can think about? Then there’s her widower father’s new adventures in dating, and her older brother’s surly new attitude...As Genie writes the blog entries, she starts to figure out the types of things she wants to express, and her own wishes, hopes, and dreams become clearer with every day.The book trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=etqOnGzE39YAn interview with Elisabeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Emx...

Stranded in Boringsville


Catherine Bateson - 2002
    It's a million miles from nowhere and doesn't even have a pizza parlor. Plus, she'll have to shuttle back and forth between there and her father's apartment in Melbourne on weekends. But gradually, her new home's fruit-tree-filled garden, the area's astonishing wildlife, and the quirky draw of Daniel, the phenomenally bright boy next door, begin to win Rain over. When Rain learns of Daniel's particular burden, of which he's never complained, she begins to see her own life in a new light.Told partly in poems composed with refrigerator magnets and partly in Daniel's reports on the "aliens" next door, this unconventional, rich, and satisfying story offers plenty of humor and lots of heart.

A Mother Forever


Elaine Everest - 2021
    

For a Father's Pride


Diane Allen - 2014
    Her sister Kitty is set to marry the handsome and wealthy Clifford Middleton. But on the eve of the wedding, Clifford commits a terrible act that shatters Daisy's happy life. She carries her secret for the next nine months, but is left devastated when she gives birth and the baby is pronounced dead. Soon she is cast out by her family and has no choice but to make her own way in the world. When further tragedy strikes, Daisy sets out for the bustling streets of Leeds. There, she encounters poverty and hardship but also friendship. What she really longs for is a love of her own. Yet Daisy doesn't realize that the key to her happiness may not be as far away as she thinks . . .A heartbreaking story of love and loss from bestselling saga author, Diane Allen

The Way Life Should Be


Christina Baker Kline - 2007
    She is single in New York City, stuck in a job she doesn’t want and a life that seems to have, somehow, just happened.  She inherited a flair for Italian cooking from her grandmother, but she never seems to have the time for it—these days, her oven holds only sweaters. Tacked to her office bulletin board is a photo from a magazine of a tidy cottage on the coast of Maine—a charming reminder of a life that could be hers, if she could only muster the courage to go after it.On a hope and a chance, Angela decides to pack it all up and move to Maine, finding the nudge she needs in the dating profile of a handsome sailor who loves dogs and Italian food.  But her new home isn’t quite matching up with the fantasy. Far from everything familiar, Angela begins to rebuild her life from the ground up. Working at a local coffeehouse, she begins to discover the pleasures and secrets of her new small-town community and, in the process, realizes there’s really no such thing as the way life should be.

From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess


Meg Cabot - 2015
    Brought up by her aunt's family in New Jersey, book-and-music-loving Olivia feels out of place in their life of high fashion and fancy cars. But she never could have imagined how out of place she really was until Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia, pops into her school and announces that Olivia is her long-lost sister. Olivia is a princess. A dream come true, right? But princesses have problems too.In FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS a new middle grade series, readers will see Genovia, this time through the illustrated diaries of a spunky new heroine, 12 year old Olivia Grace, who happens to be the long lost half-sister of Princess Mia Thermopolis.The original Princess Diaries series sold over 5 million copies in the US (15 million worldwide), spent 82 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list, and inspired two beloved films.

Greetings from Witness Protection!


Jake Burt - 2017
    She also happens to be the U.S. Marshals’ best bet to keep a family alive. . . .The marshals are looking for the perfect girl to join a mother, father, and son on the run from the nation’s most notorious criminals. After all, the bad guys are searching for a family with one kid, not two, and adding a streetwise girl who knows a little something about hiding things may be just what the marshals need.Nicki swears she can keep the Trevor family safe, but to do so she’ll have to dodge hitmen, cyberbullies, and the specter of standardized testing, all while maintaining her marshal-mandated B-minus average. As she barely balances the responsibilities of her new identity, Nicki learns that the biggest threats to her family’s security might not lurk on the road from New York to North Carolina, but rather in her own past.

Every Soul a Star


Wendy Mass - 2008
    It's also where three lives are about to be changed forever:Ally likes the simple things in life--labyrinths, star-gazing, and comet-hunting. Her home, the Moon Shadow campground, is a part of who she is, and she refuses to imagine it any other way.Popular and gorgeous (everybody says so), Bree is a future homecoming queen for sure. Bree wears her beauty like a suit of armor. But what is she trying to hide?Overweight and awkward, Jack is used to spending a lot of time alone. But when opportunity knocks, he finds himself in situations he never would have imagined and making friends in the most unexpected situations.Told from three distinct voices and perspectives, Wendy Mass weaves an intricate and compelling story about strangers coming together, unlikely friendships, and finding one's place in the universe.

Restart


Gordon Korman - 2017
    He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name.He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return.Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him.One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets.Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.From the #1 bestselling author of Swindle and Slacker, Restart is the spectacular story of a kid with a messy past who has to figure out what it means to get a clean start.

The Boy on Cinnamon Street


Phoebe Stone - 2012
    She's fun and cute and should have lots of friends - but she doesn't. And there's a dreamy boy who has a crush on her - but somehow they never connect. Louise has everything going for her - so what is it that's holding her back?Phoebe Stone tells the winning story of the spring when 7th grader Louise Terrace wakes up, finds the courage to confront the painful family secret she's hiding from - and finally get the boy.

Sure Signs of Crazy


Karen Harrington - 2013
    While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch. She collects trouble words in her diary. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two. Since then, Sarah and her dad have moved from one small Texas town to another, and not one has felt like home. Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family's Big Secret. She makes unexpected new friends and has her first real crush, and instead of a "typical boring Sarah Nelson summer," this one might just turn out to be extraordinary.

Yesterday's Friends


Pamela Evans - 1996
    The brightest girl in her class, Ruth had planned to attend college but the realisation that she was pregnant forced her to abandon all hopes of a career. Now, five years later, she still lives in Shepherd's Bush with her parents, twin brothers and daughter, Jenny. Conscious of a need to make ends meet, Ruth works as a shop assistant at the local chemist while her mother looks after Jenny. Ruth's best friend Kitty bitterly resents what has happened, but never once does Ruth regret the outcome of that magical night. And the joy that Jenny brings is ample reward for the sacrifices she has made. Ruth meets someone new and tries to put the past behind her, but yesterday's friends have an uncanny way of catching up with her and when her father turns up unexpectedly, Ruth's world is thrown into confusion once again...

The One-in-a-Million Boy


Monica Wood - 2016
    Don't they teach you anything at school?So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who's been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she's confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades.One Saturday, the boy doesn't show up. Ona starts to think he's not so special after all, but then his father arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son's good deed. The boy's mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that the world can surprise us at any age, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find ourselves again.

No Place Like Home


Maxine Morrey - 2011
    One home? Ellie Laing has a very good reason to want to stay single: her last relationship put her in danger. And she’s worried that while the physical scars will heal, the emotional ones never can. So, travelling to Kansas for her best friend Sandy’s wedding, Ellie’s in need of some time alone. And Sandy’s brother Ben’s rural and idyllic ranch seems like the perfect place for it. Ben comes with his own baggage – a failed marriage in his past, and a big question mark over his future – and he knows the feelings he had for Ellie belong firmly in the history books. But, sitting on his porch with her, he’s never felt more at home. Both of them swore they were better off alone… yet is it possible that two broken hearts could come together to heal?Readers LOVE Maxine Morrey:‘'I’ve fallen head over heels for Maxine's writing style’‘I'm a big fan of Maxine's writing and I love how she is able to write lighthearted romantic comedies that have serious issues at their centre’‘I love Maxine Morrey's books’‘Hand on heart, I could read a Maxine Morrey novel every day of the week without getting bored.’‘I'm a big fan of Morrey's books’‘Maxine has this way of captivating her readers with charismatic and memorable characters’