Breaking Up


Aimee Friedman - 2006
    One minute there's all this trust, and laughter, and love. And the next minute . . . there's hurt. And cruelty. And betrayal."Meet Chloe Sacks: Thoughtful, artistic, and a junior at Georgia O'Keeffe School for the Arts, nicknamed "Fashion High" for its trendy student body. Along with her best friends, Erika, Isabel, and MacKenzie, she's looking forward to a sparkling year of parties and romance.And it is an eventful year. But not quite what she expected. Who'd have thought that falling in love would be such a disaster?

In Some Other Life


Jessica Brody - 2017
    Three years later, Kennedy walks in on that same boyfriend cheating with her best friend—and wishes she had made a different choice. But when Kennedy hits her head and wakes up in the version of her life where she chose to attend the private school, she finds that maybe it’s not as perfect of a world as she once thought.

Nailed


Patrick Jones - 2006
    And Bret Hendricks could never fit into their conformity cult. Bret doesn't mind standing out from the crowd when he's on stage acting or singing in his band. And he feels at home in his funky girlfriend's arms because sticking out together doesn't seem as hard.But loyalties aren't what Bret thinks they are, as his safe havens seem to disappear one by one, and he learns that sometimes you just have to risk getting hammered in order to build a great future.For any teen who feels that standing out is harder than just conforming. Patrick Jones's second novel nails the real truth about the high price of hiding one's true self.

Like Mandarin


Kirsten Hubbard - 2011
    True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

Literally


Lucy Keating - 2017
    Then bestselling young adult author Lucy Keating announces that she’s writing a new novel—and Annabelle is the heroine. It turns out, Annabelle is a character that Lucy Keating created. And Lucy has a plan for her. But Annabelle doesn’t want to live a life where everything she does is already plotted out. Will she find a way to write her own story—or will Lucy Keating have the last word? The real Lucy Keating’s delightful contemporary romance blurs the line between reality and fiction, and is the perfect follow-up for readers who loved her debut Dreamology, which SLJ called, “a sweet, quirky romance with appealing characters.”

Breathing Underwater


Alex Flinn - 2001
    What no one knows--not even his best friend--is the terror that Nick faces every time he is alone with his father. Then he and Caitlin fall in love, and Nick thinks his problems are over. Caitlin is the one person who he can confide in. But when things start to spiral out of control, Nick must face the fact that he's gotten more from his father than green eyes and money.

Nobody Else Has to Know


Ingrid Tomey - 1999
    Webb wakes up in the hospital, his leg shattered and his future as a runner in doubt. He can't remember anything about that day, but he learns: Grandpa was driving. The car hit a little girl. She's in a coma, and she might never walk again.Weeks later, Webber remembers: He was driving."You're fifteen," Grandpa says. "You have your whole life ahead of you. Let me take care of everything. I'm to blame. I'm the one to go to jail. Webber," he begs, "forget it." But how can Webber forget? He was driving.

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine


April Lurie - 2008
    But when he stars in his best friend’s movie, Dylan discovers that, sometimes, life’s big shake-ups force you to take risks—and to step into the spotlight.

Alive and Well in Prague, New York


Daphne Benedis-Grab - 2008
    She buys her clothes at Andy's Cheapies, watches indie films at the Angelika, and wouldn't be caught dead on a hayride. But when her father gets sick and Matisse's parents decide to leave Man-hattan for a small town in upstate New York, her perfect world crumbles. As Matisse trudges through life in Prague, she dreams of waking up in her apartment on West 78th Street with a father who's well enough to walk with her in Central Park and a mother who doesn't pretend that everything is okay. When rumors surround Matisse at school and her father's symptoms worsen, Matisse realizes that the friends she's making in Prague are the kind you can count on. They help Matisse find the strength to reach out to her father, who may not be as far from her as she thought. And one particular farm boy shows Matisse that country living is a lot more magical than she ever imagined.

When We First Met


Norma Fox Mazer - 1982
    Theirs is the kind of love she thought existed only in movies. It seems that Jenny and Rob can talk about and share everything--until they discover the horrible truth. Rob's mother is the drunken driver who killed Jenny's sister Gail only two years before.Jenny wants to continue her relationship with Rob--she can't imagine life without him. But she feels town in many directions once she finds out who he is. She wants to be loyal to her family and to Gail's memory. But now she's in love with Rob--and he's in love with her.

Amazing Gracie


Ann Edwards Cannon - 1991
    Practical Gracie has been the one to manage their lives. Then Mom remarries, suddenly, and they move to Salt Lake City, where Gracie has to share a room with her six-year-old stepbrother, Sinjian. But in some ways the move is good for Gracie. She meets Tiimo, her first boyfriend, explores the city, and even begins to enjoy Sinjian's company. But for Mom, it's a disaster. When her mother attempts suicide, it's up to Gracie to hold her new family together.

Are We There Yet?


David Levithan - 2005
    So what better way to repair their broken relationship than to trick them into taking a trip to Italy together? Soon, though, their parents’ perfect solution has become Danny and Elijah’s nightmare as they’re forced to spend countless hours together. But then Elijah meets Julia, and soon the brothers aren’t together nearly as much. And then Julia meets Danny and soon all three of them are in a mixed-up, turned-around, never-what-you-expect world of brothers, Italy, and love.Are We There Yet? isn’t about a place on a map, it’s about a place in the heart. David Levithan has written a magical story of a journey definitely worth taking.

Better Off Famous?


Jane Mendle - 2007
    Well, she got neither. But as luck would have it, a casting director for fall’s hottest new television show happens to be at the Julliard auditions, and Annie wows him. He thinks her look is exactly what his show, a teen soap set at a posh New York school, has been missing. And just like that, Annie gets cast as the naive “new girl,” and her life is turned upside down. Sure, the perks are great, the wardrobe is awesome, and her tutor is a super hot genius… but being stalked day and night by paparazzi out to catch her in her worst light---not so fun! Can Annie learn to balance her life-- and her partying-- before the press, and the public, write her off for good?

Giving Up the V


Serena Robar - 2009
    “It” being . . . well, you get it. Even Spencer’s male friends, who claim to have expertise in the matter, offer their services to help relieve her of that pesky letter, much to her embarrassment.But when new-kid Benjamin enters the picture, Spencer begins to rethink her “responsible” moniker, and for the first time she wonders if she’s found just the right guy worth trading in her V-card.

Rock On


Denise Vega - 2012
    After years of being known only as the kid brother of sports star Del, Ori is looking forward to stepping out of his older brother's shadow, learning to perform in public, and rocking the Battle of the Bands contest. Oh, and maybe finally working up the nerve to talk to a girl in person instead of just over e-mail. But when Del suddenly returns from college, he expects Ori to step back into his role of little brother, just when Ori is starting to come into his own.With his confidence wavering, will Ori be able to overcome his stage fright and lead the band to rock glory? Will the Band To Be Named Later ever get a real name? Will their best performances remain in the garage?Denise Vega's deft exploration of brothers, bands, friends, and crushes promises to have readers tuning in page after page, because among all the ups and downs of being a teen, one thing's for sure: We all just want to rock on.