Book picks similar to
Ashley and Jen by Jack Weyland


lds
lds-fiction
young-adult
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Dakota's Revenge


Janette Rallison - 1998
    Despite her Mormon faith, seventeen-year-old Dakota hates her new home in Arizona, sabotages her mother's remarriage, and plots revenge against the boys who have worsened her poor self-esteem by publicly insulting her.

I Just Got a Letter From Allyson Pringle


Anya Bateman - 2008
    He's preparing to go on a mission, and things are good at home, at school, and with his friends. Best of all, the most popular and funny girl in school, Allyson Pringle, is in two of his classes. As the two become friends, Kendall realizes that Allyson's bright laughter is hiding some deeper pain. He wants to help her, and he thinks the gospel might be the answer she is looking for, but their friendship falls apart when Allyson cheats on a test for Kendall without telling him. In this fast-paced, novel, Kendall learns about honesty, friendship, and the benefits that come from doing the right thing for the right reasons.

A Star in Winter


Anita Stansfield - 2000
    His wife, Margie, only feels well enough to shop incessantly and go to lunch with her friends. Buckling under Margie’s extreme credit-card debt, Shayne is forced to sell their home and move the family into an apartment. Mortified and enraged, Margie leaves the family. Eight-year-old Scotty Brynner is having a noticeably difficult time coping with the problems at home. When he misses school, Helen Starkey, Scotty's caring and sensitive school teacher, decides to visit the apartment. When she learns of the family's plight and the father's demanding job, she offers to watch the children after school. Shayne is grateful for the help, and a close bond develops quickly between Helen and the children. When his marriage ends, Shayne’s feelings toward Helen deepen beyond gratitude. Happiness seems certain, but matters of the heart are never as simple as they seem . . . With an appropriate balance of faith and romance, Anita Stansfield weaves a thoroughly engaging and satisfying tale that will stay with you long after the final page is read

Kate's Turn


Cheri J. Crane - 1994
    Sixteen-year-old Kate, chafing under the old-fashioned restrictions of the Mormon Church, travels back in time and learns from her great-great-great-great-grandmother what it really means to be a Latter-day Saint.

The List


Melanie Jacobson - 2011
    At least, not anytime soon. She doesn't care how many of her friends and family members and fellow churchgoers had weddings before they finished college -- the last thing she needs in her fun-loving twenties is the dead-weight of some guy. And that's why she created The List. By the time she completes all twenty-five goals -- from learning a language to skydiving to perfecting the art of making sushi -- she'll be more ready to settle down. Maybe.This summer in California is a prime time for Ashley to cross two items off the list: learn to surf (#13) and have a summer romance (#17). And Matt Gibson, the best surf instructor in Huntington Beach and the most wanted guy in the singles ward, is the perfect man for the job. Ashley hatches a plan to love him and leave him before heading off to grad school in the fall (#4, get a master's degree). But when Matt decides he doesn't like the "leaving" part, Ashley's carefully laid plans are turned sideways. Now Ashley faces an unexpected dilemma: should she stick to the safety of The List, or risk everything for a love that may tie her down —- or might set her free?

Yearbook


Ally Condie - 2006
    Michaela Choi was afraid that Ethan Back was never going to ask her out on a date. Andrea Beck was afraid that someone would find her weak spot, the chink in her armor. She was afraid of knowing what it was herself. Principal Downing was afraid she was going to die. Julie Reid was afraid that no one would notice her. She was also afraid that someone would. And there was a deeper, unnamed fear inside her that she couldn't escape - a fear that she was nothing and no one . . . Yearbook is a captivating story about relationships and heartaches and fears and ideas and doubts and testimonies and everything that a teenage mind and a backpack can contain. But most important, Yearbook is a novel about how everyone has something to offer and something to learn.

Ariana: The Making of a Queen


Rachel Ann Nunes - 1996
    It is her wedding night, but Jacques has gone drinking with his friends, and she is left alone with her thoughts and memories . . . memories of a beloved twin brother, lost to her in a terrible accident; of her estranged parents, who had shut her out when Antoine died; of the loneliness and anger that consume her. She is nineteen, and her life seems beyond hope or repair.Thus begins the story of an extraordinary young woman who, as her life spirals downward, struggles to find meaning and hope in the face of unimaginable suffering. Her bitter refusal to listen to the LDS missionaries doesn't help matters as she blames God for her troubles. Until one dark night, when her life hits rock-bottom and the Spirit begins its whisperings to her heart.As you come to know Ariana, you will weep for her tragedy, smile at her small triumphs, rejoice as she embraces the faith that will sustain her, and feel the love of a good man who has the power to change her life forever.Rachel Nunes has created a powerful and moving novel with characters so real that you will let them into your heart and invite them to stay. Having done so, you life will never be the same. You'll find yourself re-living this exceptional story again and again!

The Secret Journal of Brett Colton


Kay Lynn Mangum - 2005
    Her family talks as if he were perfect! All Kathy knows for sure is that Brett is dead. He died of leukemia when he was sixteen and she was only two. But when Kathy turns sixteen, she discovers her brother s hidden journal - a journal written especially for her - and learns about the brother she never knew. At the same time, Kathy is mortified by an assignment to tutor the popular high school quarterback Jason West, a football jock who, even worse, is a Mormon. Author Kay Lynn Mangum brilliantly weaves the dual stories of a dying brother and a coming-of-age sister who learn the importance of loving our family and our friends and nurturing our faith.

Passage to Zarahemla


Chris Heimerdinger - 2003
    Embark on an adventure of breathtaking suspense and experience a love story that transcends time and space against a backdrop of mind-bending imagination!"

Pillar of Light


Gerald N. Lund - 1994
    I can see it on your face."For a moment, time seemed suspended as Nathan probed the inward recesses of his soul. There was still the incredulousness, still the sense of hearing something that couldn't possibly be true. And yet he knew it was. He knew without the least shadow of doubt that everything Joseph was telling him was true. And so, finally, with a wonder of his own, he said, "Yes, Joseph, I believe you."Pillar of Light — the first volume in the series The Work and the Glory — begins the epic story of the Benjamin Steed family. In the 1820s they move from Vermont to Palmyra Township in upstate New York in search of better farmland. There they meet a young man named Joseph Smith and are thrown into the maelstrom of conflict and controversy that swirls around him. Did he really see the Father and the Son in a pillar of light? Has he truly been visited by angelic messengers? What is all this talk about gold plates and new scripture? In short, is he a prophet and seer or a monumental fraud? The answers each one gives to these questions — intensely personal, potentially divisive — will dramatically affect the lives of the Steeds forever after.Author Gerald N. Lund here masterfully weaves together historical reality and high-powered fiction. In his hands this combination seems to make the reader an eyewitness to the early scenes of the Restoration, thus deepening one's understanding and appreciation of those momentous events. The well-drawn plot and fictional characters present a moving, gripping story. Here are Benjamin and Mary Ann Steed, devoted to each other as man and wife, yet at odds over religion; Joshua, their volatile son, who rebels and heads for trouble; the sensitive Nathan, their second son, in whom Joseph Smith's message strikes a responsive chord; the beautiful Lydia McBride, who captures the hearts of both Joshua and Nathan.This book skillfully explores the inmost motivations of Joseph Smith and his early followers and the responses of typical contemporary families to the claims he made. These people come to life in this powerful historical novel, a story that captures both the heartache and the happiness that came in the wake of Joseph's experience with the pillar of light.

For Time & All Absurdity


Robert Farrell Smith - 2002
    While he was on his mission, the girl of his dreams went off and got married. Theirs was to have been a match made in heaven, and Ian can't believe that Bronwyn is really, finally, irredeemably out of reach. And when his dad runs afoul of the law, it would seem that things couldn't get much worse. Lost and disheartened and tormented by the loss of his one and only love, Ian ventures back into college. There he is saddled with one of the most irritating roommates anyone ever endured and begins an odyssey of dating misadventures that will make you wince. If you've ever been in love, gotten "Dear Johned," gone to college, or endured a nightmare blind date, you'll recognize this cast of characters.

To Catch a Falling Star


Julie Wright - 2001
    Following her parents' divorce, April was dragged to Boston to live with her mother. Her only glimmer of happiness there has come through her new friend Sara Downey, who is not only smart and popular, but is also a true friend. Sara soon sets April up on a blind date with John, a Mormon from the Rocky Mountains. He returns home, but April dreams of their next meeting. Then Sara is diagnosed with cancer. Sara begins a search for God and the ultimate purpose of life while April finds herself filled with cynicism and doubt. While at a party, she meets Sam, a new friend who designates himself her conscience. Sam is headed to BYU, and when April finds out that his roommate is going to be John, she conspires to get her parents to send her there for college. Reunited with John, April finds herself confronting her past, as well as facing the quest looming in front of her, which urges her down a path she can ultimately never deny-the truth.

Secrets


Blaine M. Yorgason - 1992
    There's a woman who screams incessantly at her children, a "righteous" man who regularly beats his teenage son to"pound a little sense into him." and a prominent member of the community who abandons his family, taking their furniture and financial support with him. When it is discovered that a trusted fellow Church leader is sexually abusing his three daughters, the bishop is almost overcome. But more devastating even than this is his gradual realization that the post painful and unresolved scars in his congregation exist within the walls of his own home."It's a secret," she whispered softly, fiercely."Everyone is sworn not to tell. It's the deep, dark secret that you hold inside, because to tell it would mean to destroy the perverted balance of things."Even she, who should have known better, had agreed to remain silent. But this time something was going to be done. She wouldn't have to remain silent too long. This time something was going to be done...Powerfully and poetically written, Secrets is a must for all who have been touched by the ragged arm of abuse or who want to be supportive of someone who has been. A compelling novel based on true experiences, it offers solid information about healing and brings the reader to a deeply moving appreciation of the Saviors' atonement. Secrets confronts one of the most serious issues of our day. And as it weaves a tender and intriguing love story, it passionately draws the reader into its powerful message of hope.

Love, Jane


Ranee S. Clark - 2017
    Jane has her heart set on serving a mission, and she can't delay telling Sean the news any longer: not only has she quietly submitted her mission papers, but she's also leaving in a month ... for Alaska. Shocked and devastated, Sean struggles to come to terms with Jane's decision. Unable to deny the depth of their feelings for one another, Sean makes a promise to wait for her.Life unfolds for both Jane and Sean, with communications limited to weekly e-mails. But with just a few months left in Jane's mission, Sean's messages stop. When she receives the dreaded "Dear Jane" breakup along with the news that she has been replaced by Sean's former flame, Jane knows the future she envisioned now belongs to another woman. But upon her return home, Jane quickly realizes some things are worth fighting for—perhaps, most of all, a shot at true love.

Escape To Zion


Jean Holbrook Mathews - 2010