Book picks similar to
Beginnings by Susanna Juliusburger


childhood-nostalgia
re-read
ya-fiction
young-adult

Changes (Julia Jones' Diary #6)


Katrina Kahler - 2016
    She has the most amazing best friend. Her band is rocking! Middle School is almost finished and she is really looking forward to graduation. So what could go wrong? What could turn Julia's world upside down? Have you ever had the feeling that someone is obsessed with you? You feel as though it's your imagination.at first...then you realize that something is amiss. It starts to get creepy and you're not really sure what to do.... Read how Julia copes with "him". And sometimes no matter how happy you are, how perfect your life is...changes happen. Changes that you're sure are going to destroy your "perfect" life. Julia Jones' Diary, Book 6 - 'Changes' will have your heart smiling, your neck tingling and your tummy fluttering. Another fabulous addition to the Julia Jones' Diary series that all Julia Jones fans are sure to love!

Saving Hadley


Amy Sparling - 2019
     Hadley Parrish is having the worst luck ever. Her boyfriend dumped her for social media fame, her stepsister got into Harvard the day Hadley failed chemistry, and now she’s been blamed for a crime she didn’t do. As punishment, she’s sent to Sterling Beach for the summer to learn some “work ethic” and “manners” from her grumpy grandfather who she barely knows. The beautiful beach is no match for Hadley’s epically bad mood, and she’s determined to spend every second of the summer locked in her room brooding. Her grandfather’s only rule is that she has to come out once a week, for Friday night poker. Hadley wants to protest, but then she meets her grandfather’s favorite poker player, Jeremy, the unbelievably cute guy who lives next door. Jeremy sees things differently after being granted a miraculous second chance at life. He’s not about to let Hadley’s bad mood ruin the best years of her life. In fact, he’s going to make it his mission to save her this summer. Even if it’s the hardest thing he’ll ever do. Saving Hadley is a Boys of Summer novella. If you like enemies-to-lovers, flirty banter, and page-turning sweet romance, this story is for you. The Boys of Summer series is a collaboration between several YA authors. They are all standalone stories that take place in the same fictional town. Escape to Sterling Beach today! Saving Hadley by Amy Sparling Beach Town Bad Boy by Maggie Dallen Riptide by Jordan Ford Don’t Fall for the Summer Fling by Tammy Andresen Flirting with the Enemy by Sally Henson Beauty and the Beach by Kayla Tirrell Falling for the Rich Boy by Yesenia Vargas Summer Love and Basketball by Seven Steps

Life on the Refrigerator Door


Alice Kuipers - 2007
    Not yet. Claire is wrapped up with the difficulties of her bourgeoning adulthood—boys, school, friends, identity; Claire's mother, a single mom, is rushed off her feet both at work and at home. They rarely find themselves in the same room at the same time, and it often seems that the only thing they can count on are notes to each other on the refrigerator door. When home is threatened by a crisis, their relationship experiences a momentous change. Forced to reevaluate the delicate balance between their personal lives and their bond as mother and daughter, Claire and her mother find new love and devotion for one another deeper than anything they had ever imagined.Heartfelt, touching, and unforgettable, Life on the Refrigerator Door is a glimpse into the lives of mothers and daughters everywhere. In this deeply touching novel told through a series of notes written from a loving mother and her devoted fifteen-year-old daughter, debut author Alice Kuipers deftly captures the impenetrable fabric that connects mothers and daughters throughout the world. Moving and rich with emotion, Life on the Refrigerator Door delivers universal lessons about love in a wonderfully simple and poignant narrative.

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend


Kody Keplinger - 2010
    She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "the Duff," she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

I'll Be Here


Autumn Doughton - 2012
    Willow and Dustin have lots of plans. Plans for college, prom, tonight actually. So, when the unthinkable happens, and Dustin breaks up with Willow over a plate of cheese fries at a steak house, she is left stunned and heartbroken. With less than two months until graduation, Willow has to start a new life from scratch. She'll have to revisit old wrongs along the way and make the most important decision of all: who does she want to be? She’s going to have help from her wacky ex-best friend, her bohemian mother, and an old flame that is suddenly and somewhat inconveniently back in her life.

Shadow and Bone


Leigh Bardugo - 2012
    Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

The Iron Trial (Free Preview Edition) (The Magisterium)


Holly Black - 2014
    He wants to fail.All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .From the remarkable imaginations of bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a heart-stopping, mind-blowing, pulse-pounding plunge into the magical unknown.

Never Go Home Again


Shannon Holmes - 2004
    And yet, like so many others in Corey's neighborhood, he finds the temptations of the lucrative drug trade too great to resist. While he makes fast money for a while, it is inevitable that it is he who has to pay, with his time and maybe even his life: by the age of sixteen Corey is locked up. Incarcerated in Riker's Island and then in prisons upstate, Corey lives through experiences that threaten to destroy his body, his mind, and eventually his spirit. But in the midst of his horrific imprisonment he discovers new strength to keep himself together and survive. Corey meets a few kind souls who mean him well, including a teacher who encourages him to get out of prison and make something of himself. The teacher also advises Corey to "never go home again." Though the homesick Corey does not immediately understand, he ultimately realizes the wisdom of his mentor's words. Unflinching and riveting, this story is the firsthand account of the brutal, unforgiving inner-city streets and prison life, as well as a difficult lesson in accepting responsibility and moving on.

The God of Sno Cone Blue


Marcia Coffey Turnquist - 2014
    Medallion.Story summary: Something is odd about Grace. She has mismatched eyes, one dark and one light. She thinks she's seen God. When her mother dies, she begins to get letters from her, as if from the grave. The letters tell of her mother's life before she married Grace's father, in time, confessing fiercely guarded family secrets. "I wasn't always a Preacher's Wife... I made mistakes along the way."Looking back, as a middle-aged woman, Grace relives those transformative years, coming of age in the 1960s as the daughter of The Reverend Thad Carsten and his much-younger wife, Sharon. When they move to a new neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, Sharon is healthy and Grace takes turmoil in stride: a new school, her backward neighbors, the simmering Vietnam War and political unrest. On the whole, life is sublime-until Sharon gets sick and dies. Then Grace's world turns upside down.Days after Sharon is gone, the letters to her daughter start coming, delivered mysteriously in the dark of night. Grace finds them-addressed to her-and devours every word, desperate to figure out who's delivering them. As she struggles with questions of loss and faith, she begins to butt heads with the preacher, increasingly focused on the mysterious messenger and her mother's letters. The handwritten pages arrive periodically as Grace matures, fostering a strange mother daughter relationship.Early on, the letters offer motherly advice, but increasingly they shift their focus to Sharon's early teens, eventually confessing a forbidden young adult romance. By then, Grace is desperate for the rest of the story, searching everywhere for her mother's writings, until finally there's a breakthrough. When she reads the last of the letters-and an astonishing truth-she embarks on a journey that changes her life and perspective forever.What did Sharon confess in the last letter to her daughter? How does it affect their unusual mother daughter relationship? As Grace runs away to trace her mother's past and teenage romance, what will she find?With its elements of romance and mystery, The God of Sno Cone Blue, sometimes searched as "Snow" Cone Blue is best described as contemporary women's fiction, though its strong central male character also appeals to men. The novel's storyline and mother daughter relationship are fitting Inspirational Fiction, and its passion and coming of age tale are appropriate for teenagers and young adults.* USA Today Bestselling Author Linda Needham on this inspirational fiction story: "The God of Sno Cone Blue is a joyous celebration of a young girl's journey to womanhood. Grace is a modern match for Tom Sawyer, with a grand spirit and enough spunk to weather the heartache of losing her mother at a tender age. Along the way, she gains the wisdom to recognize the breadth of her mother's love through a series of posthumous, sometimes shocking letters delivered in the years that follow. With a driving style and a colorful cast of eccentric characters, author Marcia Coffey Turnquist fiercely delivers equal parts laughter, sorrow and the kind of joy that will stay with you long after you've finished the book."*Author Rod Gramer on this novel fraught with family secrets: "Marcia has created a compelling character in Grace, one whose great personal loss is redeemed by a great personal discovery."*Portland Society Page editor Elisa Klein on the story's mystery and romance: "Surprises abound and the twists and turns kept me flipping pages late into the night as I curled up in my favorite chair to drink it all in."*Award-winning artist D.K. Lubarsky on this coming of age novel: "A masterful storyteller, Turnquist takes you on a magical journey of discovery in this poignant tale of innocence and growing up. The God of Sno Cone Blue is a delightful read."

The Summer I Turned Pretty


Jenny Han - 2009
    Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

A Mother to Embarrass Me


Carol Lynch Williams - 2002
    Like the way she yodels at the top of her lungs while she works (okay, she calls it singing). And plays really old music so loud the neighbors can hear (can’t she listen to normal music?). And walks around in clay-covered pajamas (yes, she is a sculptor, but still . . . ). But things are about to get much, much worse. Laura has noticed that her mother is getting a little bit, well, fat. Then one night over dinner (at a restaurant, since she almost burned down the house trying to cook), her mother announces that she’s going to have a baby. Now all the neighbors, including the gorgeous boy Laura has a crush on, will know her parents have been doing it. Maybe even in the house! There must be some way Laura can change her mother before her own life is completely, utterly ruined!From the Hardcover edition.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer


Michelle Hodkin - 2011
    There is.She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

Anne of Green Gables


Paul McCusker - 2007
    Montgomery allows listeners to personally experience the world and characters presented in "Anne of Green Gables" in a whole new way! Anne of Green Gables is the story of a little girl's feisty spirit and strong determination that win over the hearts of the people of Avonlea, the love and commitment of family, and a poor orphan growing up into a distinguished young woman.

The Selection


Kiera Cass - 2012
    The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

The Country Doctor


Franz Kafka
    A short story from Franz Kafka, celebrated author of dark haunting tales of transformation and the horrors of life.Sometimes translated as "A Country Doctor."