Breakups, makeups, drama in the halls, it’s all in a school day’s work. Jack is your all-American teenager experiencing the usual woes of his generation. Crazy parties, locker scenes, immaturity, and if that wasn’t enough, he’s got serious girl problems. It just so happens that Jack’s friend, Lidia, is having her own dating issues and the two of them come up with a plan to get back at their exes. Pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend and flaunt their incredible happiness to make their past loves jealous. The plan is brilliant and they put on the performance of their young lives. They have high hopes the ruse will be successful and they’ll be back with their original partners before too long. Things are going good for the new, happy couple. But over the course of the faux relationship, they discover each other's true personas and are drawn together despite the false pretenses. Their affection toward one another becomes something neither one expected; genuine. Growing in Love is a tender, coming-of-age story about forgiveness, loss of innocence; self-discovery; relationships of all kinds–including abusive–and teenage love and romance.

    From the tired and weary families who risked their lives to escape slavery to the instruments of freedom who helped them. One such amazing instrument was John Parker. As an ex-slave who had bought his own freedom, he knew of the pain and struggles his brethren were feeling. Parker made it his goal to help families escape their life of suffering into a free land. Freedom River tells the story of one such mission. Kentucky was a slave state, but Ohio -- just across the Ohio River -- was free. Time and again, Parker sails across the river in the dark of night and brings slaves to Ohio. One night in November, Parker tries to free a family from the Shrofe plantation. But one man will not leave, fearful for his wife and child. Parker has to go back empty-handed, and the onset of winter prevents him from crossing the river for many weeks; in April, he tries again but is informed that Master Shrofe knows of the family's near escape and now keeps careful eye on all that they do -- even keeping their baby at the foot of his bed at night. Parker promises to help them. The next night he tells them to wait in the woods while he enters the master's house. Risking life and limb, he retrieves the infant, as Shrofe's angry shouts echo in the distance.Told in an exquisite voice, this book highlights the heroes no one seldom hears about. The tone of the book is realistic and at times somber. The watercolor and collage illustrations, especially those evoking the blue of the night sky, adds depth and intensity to an already passionate story. --Amy Barkat

    Before it was legal for her mother and father to officially be married, the broom was what made them a family anyway. But now all former slaves who had already been married in their hearts could register as lawful husband and wife. When Ellen and her family make the long trip to the courthouse dressed in their best, she brings the broom her parents had jumped so many years before. Even though freedom has come, Ellen knows the old traditions are important too. After Mama and Papa's names are recorded in the register, Ellen nearly bursts with pride as her parents jump the broom once again. Ellen is a wonderfully endearing character whose love for her family is brought to life in Daniel Minter's rich and eye-catching block print illustrations.

    She writes letters to her new teacher in a clear, insistent voice, stating her troubles and asking questions with startling honesty. The new teacher is supportive, but not everyone feels the same, so there is a lot to write about. Her brother, James, is having a far less positive school experience than she is, and the annoying white neighbor boy won’t leave her alone. But Shag, her border collie, is her refuge. Even so, opportunity clashes with obstacle. Kizzy Ann knows she and Shag could compete well in the dog trials, but will she be able to enter? From Jeri Watts comes an inspiring middle-grade novel about opening your mind to the troubles and scars we all must bear — and facing life with hope and trust.

    Malo, Florida, a navy town where new faces are the norm. But Amedeo has a secret, a dream: More than anything in the world, he wants to discover something -- a place, a process, even a fossil -- some treasure that no one realizes is there until he finds it. And he would also like to discover a true friend to share these things with. William Wilcox seems like an unlikely candidate for friendship: an aloof boy who is all edges and who owns silence the way other people own words. When Amedeo and William find themselves working together on a house sale for Amedeo's eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender, Amedeo has an inkling that both his wishes may come true. For Mrs. Zender's mansion is crammed with memorabilia of her long life, and there is a story to go with every piece. Soon the boys find themselves caught up in one particular story -- a story that links a sketch, a young boy's life, an old man's reminiscence, and a painful secret dating back to the outrages of Nazi Germany. It's a story that will take them to the edge of what they know about heroism and the mystery of the human heart. Two-time Newbery winner E. L. Konigsburg spins a magnificent tale of art, discovery, friendship, history, and truth.

    But mostly people call me Lula. So, my big news is...I've finally been kissed. Eeeee! I have an actual, factual boyfriend! At least, I thought I did. But things with the perfect boy aren't going to plan - thanks to his journo gal pal, Evil Jazz. And that's not all. Hoooo no. In a few days I've got to dance the hula in public, put a stop to some seriously serious criminal activity, win a race, and stop Dad from shaming me totally with his weirdiness. Frikkly frik! Where is my normal life? Huh? Where? Please, someone, tell me I'm not jinxed forever...Laugh-out-loud funny and gorgeously romantic, Lula Does the Hula is the perfect summer read.

    He throws himself into recreating the "Book of Birds, " a collection of drawings that his mother took with her on the day she left. While his father fights his own depression and his sister distances herself from their lives, Jeremy turns wholeheartedly to nature, and finds solace in the quiet comfort of drawing.In this novel, James Prosek tells Jeremy's story without blame, without self-pity, and without excuses. "The Day My Mother Left" should be read by anyone who has gone through the pain of losing a parent, and by anyone who wants to meet Jeremy, a boy who can see inside himself the person he wants to become.

    Stuck in grief over her mother’s recent death. Stuck in the African jungle for sixty-four days without phone reception. Stuck with her father, a doctor who seems able to heal everyone but Clare.Clare feels like a fish out of water at Mzanga Full Primary School. Soon, though, she becomes immersed in her new surroundings and impressed with her fellow students, who are crowded into a tiny space, working on the floor among roosters and centipedes.When Clare’s new friends take her on an outing to a lake, the trip goes horribly wrong, and Clare must face another heartbreak head-on. Only an orphan named Memory, who knows about love and loss, can teach Clare how to laugh with the moon.

    In this picture book interpretation, renowned illustrator Jerry Pinkney has created images of a family moving from the rural South to the urban North during the Great Migration that reached its peak in the 1930s. The song's message of self-reliance still speaks to us today but resonates even stronger in its historical context. This extraordinary book stands as a tribute to all those who dared so much to get their own.

    Iggie was gone, moved to Tokyo. And there was Winnie, cracking her gum on Grove Street, where she'd always lived, with no more best friend and two weeks left of summer.Then the Garber family moved into Iggie's house—two boys, Glenn and Herbie, and Tina, their little sister. The Garbers were black and Grove Street was white and always had been. Winnie, a welcoming committee of one, set out to make a good impression and be a good neighbor. That's why the trouble started.Glenn and Herbie and Tina didn't want a "good neighbor." They wanted a friend.

    . .Laura Mellon has never met a fabric she couldn't soften or a stain she couldn't remove. She's tired of cleaning houses with her starry-eyed mom. But it's the only way she'll save enough $$$ for college.To riches . . .Willa Pogue can't enjoy being an heiress. She's too busy worrying about fitting in at Fenwick, her snooty new Connecticut boarding school. Then she meets Laura, her new maid. Laura's the spitting image of Willa!Soon Laura is trading vacuums for Fenwick's ivy-covered campus, and Willa is sinking blissfully into the anonymity of the hired help. But then Laura begins to fall for preppy Caleb Blake, and Willa discovers a brandnew (and completely unacceptable for a Pogue) passion. Can the girls ever return to their old lives?

    No more being the brunt of every joke. No more "Deweyitis." But after he stains his face with shoe polish trying to mimic the popular Shoeshine Boy at the minstrel show, he begins seventh grade on an even lower rung, earning the nickname Sambo and being barred from the "whites only" bathroom. The only person willing to talk to him, besides his older brother, Wayne, is fellow outsider Darla Turkel, who wears her hair like Shirley Temple and sings and dances like her, too. Through their friendship, Dewey gains awareness of issues bigger than himself and bigger than his small town of Sand Mountain: issues like race and segregation, the reality of the Vietnam War, abuse, sexuality, and even death and grieving. Written in a riveting, authentic voice, at times light-hearted and humorous and at others devastating and lonely, this deeply affecting story will stay with readers long after the book is closed.

    Two rival football teams. Two legendary coaches. Two talented quarterbacks. Together they broke the color line, revolutionized college sports, and transformed the NFL.1967. TWO RIVAL FOOTBALL TEAMS. TWO LEGENDARY COACHES. TWO STAR QUARTERBACKS. TOGETHER THEY BROKE THE COLOR L INE, REVOLUTIONIZED COLLEGE SPORTS, AND TRANSFORMED THE NFL. In September 1967, after three years of landmark civil rights laws and three months of devastating urban riots, the football season began at Louisiana’s Grambling College and Florida A&M. The teams were led by two extraordinary coaches, Eddie Robinson and Jake Gaither, and they featured the best quarterbacks ever at each school, James Harris and Ken Riley. Breaking the Line brings to life the historic saga of the battle for the 1967 black college championship, culminating in a riveting, excruciatingly close contest. Samuel G. Freedman traces the rise of these four leaders and their teammates as they storm through the season. Together they helped compel the segre­gated colleges of the South to integrate their teams and redefined who could play quarterback in the NFL, who could be a head coach, and who could run a franchise as general manager. In Breaking the Line, Freedman brilliantly tells this suspenseful story of character and talent as he takes us from locker room to state capitol, from embattled campus to packed stadium. He captures a pivotal time in American sport and society, filling a missing and crucial chapter in the movement for civil rights.

    Paolo has finally realised he must reveal the truth.

    He knows he'll have to leave it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School things are different. Instead of family, there are students -- Eskimo, Indian, White -- who line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there's some kind of war going on. And instead of comforting words like tutu and maktak, there's English. Speaking I'nupiaq -- or any native language -- is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he's not the only one. There's smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader -- if he doesn't self destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. Each has their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School -- and in the wider world -- will never be the same.