With just twenty dollars to her name, she begins a new life in Jackson Beach, Florida, washing dishes at Thelma's Open 24-Hour Café and sneaking into the cineplex at night to sleep. Eventually she saves up enough money to rent a cheap motel room. There she gets to know Effaline, and comes to see that here's a girl who is more alone and lost than she is. Jody is going to save her. And in trying to do so, Jody might just save herself.At turns heart-wrenching and funny, Valerie Hobbs's latest novel introduces readers to an unforgettable and surprising young woman who manages to break free of an abusive relationship and finds true strength and her "self of steam."

    They say wolves don't live in this country, yet in the night Jake hears it howling, long and lonely. When Jake and Lucy hike to Sheldon Mountain in search of the wolf, Jake is out to prove his dad right or wrong; Lucy is escaping her father's cruelty. Both are tested -- physically, emotionally, spiritually -- but what they find on that dangerous, dark mountain surprises them both.

    Even the dead tell stories.”It's 1910. In a cabin north of the Arctic Circle, in a place murderously cold and desolate, Sig Andersson is alone. Except for the corpse of his father, frozen to death that morning when he fell through the ice on the lake.The cabin is silent, so silent, and then there's a knock at the door. It's a stranger, and as his extraordinary story of gold dust and gold lust unwinds, Sig's thoughts turn more and more to his father's prized possession, a Colt revolver, hidden in the storeroom.A revolver just waiting to be used...but should Sig use it, or not?

    Until one night she disappears raising the stakes in a dangerous game where all bets are off. Prepared to be glued to your seat by this character-driven mystery novel filled with math, gangsters, and a just a touch of OCD.

    I managed not to crash into him. I tried to look calm, cool, unperturbed. I told myself not to laugh, especially not a snorting kind of laugh. "Wha . . . what did . . ."And then he kissed me.Charlotte (Charlie to her friends) finds herself falling for a boy who is off-limits. Her best friend is in love with him, and her mother and his father are dating. Still, Charlie can't help but wonder, what would happen if we kiss?

    Fifteen is the age when a girl enters womanhood, traditionally celebrating the occasion with a quinceañero. But while Violet is half Cuban, she’s also half Polish, and more importantly, she feels 100% American. Except for her zany family’s passion for playing dominoes, smoking cigars, and dancing to Latin music, Violet knows little about Cuban culture, nada about quinces, and only tidbits about the history of Cuba. So when Violet begrudgingly accepts Abuela’s plans for a quinceañero–and as she begins to ask questions about her Cuban roots–cultures and feelings collide. The mere mention of Cuba and Fidel Castro elicits her grandparents’ sadness and her father’s anger. Only Violet’s aunt Luz remains open-minded. With so many divergent views, it’s not easy to know what to believe. All Violet knows is that she’s got to form her own opinions, even if this jolts her family into unwanted confrontations. After all, a quince girl is supposed to embrace responsibility–and to Violet that includes understanding the Cuban heritage that binds her to a homeland she’s never seen. This is Nancy Osa’s first novel.From the Hardcover edition.

    When she discovers, thanks to a pediatric endocrinologist and his X-ray machine, that she’s still growing and will likely hit six foot three, she struggles with her inability to blend.Emily blames her MIA, giantess mother, Marilyn, for her excessive height and embarks on a mom-quest to find her. She wants to unravel why Marilyn left and learn how to operate as a super-sized person in the world. So begins a journey that leads Emily to Arizona to meet her birth mother.Then there's Emily's ex-best-friend-gone-wild, Trix. She has an attitude that won’t quit, two non-parents who don’t take care of her as much as she takes care of them, and a tendency to hook up with too many guys in her search for acceptance.When she finds out she has a chance to graduate early and study her passion–fashion design–at The Art Institute, she realizes she needs to pull herself out of her downward spiral and focus on her goal. Can she get it together and earn herself a better life or is she too far gone?Emily and Trix, who have grown apart but whose lives still wind around each other like helices, work separately to figure out how to fit into a world that doesn't much like girls who can't, or won't, conform to what's ordinary.

    It seems like Ruby Parker has the perfect life.She:goes to an exclusive stage schoolstars in the hit soap operagets to kiss Justin de Souza, the hottest actor aroundMillions of fans are watching Ruby—and wishing they could be her.If only they knew that behind the scenes, Ruby's life is falling apart.

    Yet her first attempt at making friends in the new town backfires when she reaches out to the loner everyone calls Fryin' Ryan, the very last person who can help her achieve her dream. And to further complicate matters, her twin brother, Ollie, keeps appearing to her, seeming to want something. Her twin brother, who died when they were twelve.

    needs some guidance--before he lets down both himself and the Lord. . . It's Perry's senior year--and he has every reason to feel good about himself. One of the most popular kids in his class, he's not only the best football player in the state, he's also acing every one of his AP classes. College recruiters are beating down his door to sign him. He even has such a good thing with his girlfriend, Tori, that he finally feels ready to take their relationship to the next level. There's only one problem. Tori isn't ready. Her Christian beliefs tell her she needs to save herself. And with plenty of girls to choose from, Perry is tempted to break up with Tori and start spending time with someone who is ready for something more. The choice is his: to do what feels good--or to do right by God. Includes a guide on how to start your own book club!

    Now she takes you to Washington, D.C.'s most notorious neighborhood, where a young woman has one chance to escape-and too many ways to lose . . . SILENCED She gets lost in the fantasy of books and poetry. But in Tinka Hampton's all-too-real world, her mother Nicola has lost her job and is struggling to stop her family's fall into poverty. With her sons turning to drug dealing-and worse-Nicola wants better things for her daughter. Yet the more pressure she puts on Tinka to do everything right, the more she drives her away . . . straight into the arms of Nine, a man as irresistible as he is lethal. Now Nicola must make unimaginable choices that will put Tinka at a dangerous crossroads. Will standing up for her seemingly impossible dreams be her way out-or will they trap her on D.C.'s merciless streets forever?

    But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Emma's family moves to a town outside Lowell, Massachusetts, to stay with Emma's grandmother while her mom undergoes treatment.Emma feels out of place in the United States.She begins to have migraines, and longs to be back in Japan. At her grandmother's urging, she volunteers in a long-term care center to help Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome, write down her poems. There, Emma meets Samnang, another volunteer, who assists elderly Cambodian refugees. Weekly visits to the care center, Zena's poems, dance, and noodle soup bring Emma and Samnang closer, until Emma must make a painful choice: stay in Massachusetts, or return home early to Japan.

    Marcus is black; Eddie is white. Stars of their school basketball team, they are true leaders who look past the stereotypes and come out on top. They are inseparable, watching each other's backs, both on and off the basketball court. But one night—and one wrong decision—will change their lives forever. Will their mistake cost them their friendship . . . and their future?An ALA Best Book for Young AdultsAn ALA Quick Pick “Top Ten”IRA Children’s Book Award (Young Adult)

    Mia was adopted from South Korea as a baby, and the trip raises tough questions about where she really belongs. Then her dad is arrested for spying, just as forbidden photographs of North Korean slave-labor camps fall into Mia's hands. The only way to save Dad: get the pictures out of the country. Thus Mia and Simon set off on a harrowing journey to the border, without food, money, or shelter, in a land where anyone who sees them might turn them in, and getting caught could mean prison -- or worse.An exciting adventure that offers a rare glimpse into a compelling, complicated nation, In the Shadow of the Sun is an unforgettable novel of courage and survival.

    Hart?s tenth-grade creative writing class, sparks a group of nine students each to tell his/her own story. Readers are introduced to Jake and Shante?s interracial romance, Carlos? fear of deportation, and Sunday?s determination after being sexually assaulted. These teens persevere through hardship and heartache, laughter and love, and in the end, their voices shine through inspiring journal entries that answer the question in unusual and unexpected ways. Once again, Brenda Woods shows a keen understanding of the teenage psyche, as she did in Emako Blue, winner of the 2005 IRA Children?s Choice Young Adult Fiction Award.