Book picks similar to
Second Best Sister by Carol Stanley


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young-adult
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Down the Memory Hole


Bonnie Turner - 2005
    The thought of giving up his friendship is bad enough. But how can he relate to someone who forgets his grandson's name, wears adult diapers, and thinks dog biscuits are people cookies-someone who could die in the night and scare Buzz right out of puberty. Buzz thinks Alzheimer's is caused by a traumatic event, such as the train accident that killed Grandpa's brother Barkley in childhood. The situation turns deadly when Buzz and Mitch-whose friendship Buzz refuses to end-attempt to cure Grandpa of Alzheimer's disease by recreating the train accident on a hot summer day. (Ages 12-14/YA)

L.I.E.


David Hollander - 2000
    It’s the late eighties in Long Island, New York, and eighteen-year-old Harlan Kessler plays in a band, parties with friends, and struggles with a family that offers anything but a Kodak moment. The one ray of hope in Harlan’s life is Sarah DeRosa. With her by his side, Harlan just might make the right choices between love and aggression, intimacy and absence, finding himself and losing his mind. . . .

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.

Storm Gold


Lee Nelson - 1996
     One of the last adn largest Spanish settlements was located on what is now the Ute Indian Reservation at Rock Creek. According to Ute legends, the biggest slaughter of white men by Indians didn't occur at the Little Big Horn, but at Rock Creek, where in 1840 nearly one thousand Spaniards were slaughtered by Indians, ending once and for all the era of the Spanish gold seekers. This story is about that last great battle, told through the eyes of Utah's favorite writer of historical fiction, Lee Nelson.

Return Of His Bubblegum Klutz (His Bubblegum Klutz, #2)


CJustMe - 2015
    

The Golden Couple


knightsrachel
    And I am hopelessly and irrevocably in love with Bryce Harrison. And this is our story.

Burn into Me


ballerinasarahh
    She's strong and unpredictable, and just about as stubborn as you can get. But she has also spent years being abused and tortured by her own father. The man that was supposed to love her. The day she is told that her father called her school, she thinks it's her death sentence.Emelie soon learns that she's being shipped off to a boarding school. There she meets people who will become great friends, traitors, and flat out enemies. Then there's Drake. And he doesn't fit into any of those categories. Questions arise as Emelie discovers that she was born with unusual gifts. She learns that there are people in the school similar to her, each with a specialized talent.Her feelings might also confuse her as she doesn't know what to call her relationship with Drake. They're both stubborn and refuse to admit to what they don't believe is true. However, they've become attached and grown to need each other in times of peril. But what happens when things become too much for either of them?

Breakup Poems: Vol 1


J.R. Rogue - 2018
    Rogue returns with her newest collection of poetry, Breakup Poems. In six sections – five devoted to the stages of grief and a final one for her dedicated group of online fans – the author examines the various emotions women go through as they mourn the loss of lovers, ranging from almost-relationships to marriage.

They Called Me Red


Christina Kilbourne - 2008
    They were there for each other. He wasn't prepared for Lily to come along and enchant his father with her giggles and shy glances. Devon has a bad feeling about this new woman who seems endearing one minute, ice cold the next, but his dad is hooked, and Lily moves in. When Devon's father suddenly falls ill, and doctors can't find the problem, Lily insists that they travel to her native Vietnam, where her uncle can treat him. Once in her family's tiny apartment, Lily forces Devon away from his father, and makes him drink some musky tea that is supposed to calm him. It is only when Devon wakes up in a locked room that he begins to realize his suspicions about Lily weren't nearly as horrific as who she really is, and what she has done. Within days, Devon finds himself locked up in a different location, with three other boys. Through hushed conversations in broken English and Vietnamese, Devon learns that he is now the property of a restaurant-owner named Long, and that he has been transported to Cambodia. As the nightmare worsens, the reality that this restaurant doubles as a brothel sets in. Because of his fiery red hair and freckles, Long is able to demand a higher price for him, and her customers start a bidding war. With the memory of his father and his old life keeping him from complete despair, Devon manages to hope for escape or rescue. Back home, those close to Devon refuse to believe Lily's lies about him "running away" in Vietnam, and an international search effort begins. Once found, the challenges continue, as Devon faces a new life without his father, and a new identity molded by unspeakable memories.

Crown of Violet


John Escott - 1952
    Alexis, son of Leon, was full of anticipation as he dreamed of having his own plays performed there one day. But he was to be involved in more than playwriting before the day was over, for among the spectators at the horse race, by the light of the flaming torches, he heard Hippias, the arrogant dandy, and a stranger with a beaked nose and over-high cheekbones, plotting to overthrow the democracy of Athens. For the rest of the year, two things possessed Alexis: his comedy The Gadfly, and the plans he laid with his friend Corinna to trap the conspirators and save his beloved city. His exultation and anxiety grew together as the fateful Theatre Festival arrived once more. Geoffrey Trease has combined a fast-moving dramatic story with a vivid and accurate picture of a great historical period.An adventure story of Ancient Athens

Sharon Creech Box Set: Absolutely Normal Chaos, Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird


Sharon Creech - 2001
    Selected novels by Newbery Award winner Sharon Creech -- "Walk Two Moons, Absolutely Normal Chaos," and "Chasing Redbird" -- now in a boxed set.