Book picks similar to
Grown: The Black Girls' Guide to Glowing Up by Melissa Cummings-Quarry
self-care
young-adult
black-community
black-written
The Perfect Age
Heather Skyler - 2004
She is a lifeguard at the pool at the Dunes hotel in Las Vegas, caught off guard by the new attention from men and boys, not quite sure of her own footing in the world. Her mother, Kathy, suddenly finds herself in a place equally uncertain: her children getting older, her stable marriage perhaps too stable, the slow days of summer leaving her adrift. When Kathy meets Helen’s boss, the manager at the pool, her life is on the brink of a different sort of change.Following Helen and Kathy through three summers, this novel is an intimate picture of two sexual awakenings under one roof and their aftershocks on a family. The Perfect Age is set in workaday Las Vegas, where people are married at drive-through chapels, and escort services are advertised alongside 99-cent shrimp cocktail. The novel takes the reader beyond the glitz of showgirls and Elvis impersonators and reveals the everyday life in homes and schools, and among the lukewarm waters of Lake Mead and the semi-cool of the surrounding mountains. In The Perfect Age, Heather Skyler explores the nature of beauty, sex, and class divisions in a society where things are at once normal and bizarre, showing us that the validity of life’s deepest experiences—love, betrayal, acceptance—is never compromised by age.
Seven Days Of You
Cecila Vinesse
Seven days to say good-bye to the electric city, her wild best friend, and the boy she’s harbored a semi-secret crush on for years. Seven perfect days…until Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Japan and ruins everything.Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak, and the last thing Sophia wants is for him to steal her leaving thunder with his stupid arriving thunder. Yet as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were stable begin to explode around her. And Jamie is the one who helps her pick up the pieces. Sophia is forced to admit she may have misjudged Jamie, but can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?
Cassius: The True Story of a Courageous Police Dog
Gordon Thorburn - 2009
Things did not go according to plan in Sleightholm's first years as a police dog handler. The difficulties of finding and keeping the right dog were so great that he was ready to give up. Then Cass came along. The two of them quickly formed a bond, graduated as stars from the training school, and became an outstandingly effective working partnership. Cass became part of the Sleightholm family, too. Car thieves, armed robbers, drug dealers, murderers, burglars—Cassius learned to find them, contain them, intimidate, and attack if he had to. Sometimes it was dangerous for him. Usually it was more dangerous for the criminal. The story of Cassius is by turns thrilling, funny, and moving, and always a fascinating insight into the freemasonry of police dog training.
A History of Stone and Steel
Christopher Fisher - 2013
Driven by pain, a nightmare about work boots, and a sense of impending doom, Paul soon finds himself losing control over his words and actions, to disastrous and comical effect. In order to save his marriage, avenge his sister, and preserve his sanity, he must face the memory of the summer when he was twenty-one, when a tragic steel plant accident sent his life spinning off course. But in the process, Paul begins to suspect that the history he has written in his head may not be as accurate as he once believed.
The Bad Boys of Bokaro Jail
Chetan Mahajan - 2014
From picking the best prison ward, befriending the people who can get him mobile phone access and upgraded food, and training for his upcoming marathon in the tiny prison yard, Chetan soon learns to work the prison system. In the process he makes unlikely friends, and discovers what India’s underbelly really looks like. A true story, The Bad Boys of Bokaro Jail, is thought provoking, amusing and touching. It will show you the Indian prison as you have never seen it before.
Eluded
Michelle Michaels - 2018
Charlotte Vaughn and her sister, Megan, couldn’t be any more different. When Charlotte shows up at a bartending job to cover for her free spirited sister, she discovers that Megan is deeply involved in a secret, criminal life. If that isn’t shocking enough, Megan is now missing and Charlotte will be forced to fill in for Megan within the business until Megan is found. Charlotte has no choice but to team up with D, a menacing but charismatic gangster, and immerse herself in this brutal criminal underworld to look for her sister. Will she find Megan? Does Megan want to be found?
The Undoing of Ryder Burke
clarifications
It's a known fact at Madison High that Ryder is down for pretty much everything- the stories written on the bathroom stalls are law, after all. Her infamy doesn't stop her from holding a place at the top of Madison High's food chain, though, until something happens at Georgia Brenner's annual New Year's Eve party.All anyone knows is that Ryder was seen being led into a room by Ryan Morgan, Georgia's on again off again, and Mason Brenner, Georigia's twin brother, and that, two hours later, Ryder Burle was at the Hospital.But who will believe the school slut when she cries rape?Weston Stark is the new kid in school. The son of a lawyer, he knows that Ryder should be able to tell her side of the story, no matter what the rumors about her imply. The problem is that no one else is willing to listen.
Prime Choice
Stephanie Perry Moore - 2007
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!
Bad Boy Rebels 3
Jessica Sorensen - 2017
It's making separating my real life with my undercover life complicated. Alexis: My name is Alexis and up until a day ago, I thought the worst thing that ever happened to me was catching Blaine and Masie kissing. Boy was I wrong. Like really, really wrong. Now my life is filled with crazy hackers, dirty lies, and three hot guys trying to protect me. And who knows what tomorrow will bring. Recommended reading age 18+
My Last Step Backward
Tasha Schuh - 2012
No one knew that the stage itself would steal her dream-and almost her life-during a rehearsal for the next big show.Just days before her opening night performance in The Wizard of Oz, sixteen-year- old Tasha took one step backward and fell sixteen feet through a trap door. On that day, Nov. 11, 1997, she landed on the concrete floor of the historic Sheldon Theater, breaking her neck, crushing her spinal cord, and fracturing her skull. She would never walk again.For the next three days, Tasha prepared for a surgery that would at best leave her a C-5 quadriplegic. Post-op complications turned Tasha's struggle and ultimate triumph into an unbelievable journey. From loss and grief to self-discovery and achievement, Tasha's faith, resilience, and honesty have allowed her to leave the old Tasha behind while she confronts the new Tasha's life from a state of the art wheelchair.Discover Tasha's remarkable spirit in My Last Step Backward, a poignant memoir that seeks to inspire you to welcome adversity and face your own trap door of opportunity.
Watermelon Summer
Anna Hess - 2013
So even though she was more familiar with subways than with milk cows, Forsythia knew she couldn't let the farm be sold sight unseen. She threw away her pre-college European adventure and resolved to be the catalyst bringing the ailing community back to life.Getting from the airport in no-bus-service West Virginia to the Kentucky commune where her mother once lived turned out to be the easy part of Forsythia's adventure. Harder was searching for an elusive father who felt cryptic notes and a library card were sufficient stand-ins for his presence. The piercing blue eyes of a perfect boy further complicated matters, making it difficult to hold onto her own ambitious plans for the future.Add in a rustic farmhouse, a flooded creek, and an unexpected betrayal, and the deck seemed to be stacked against Forsythia. But she couldn't give up because if the intentional community disintegrated, Forsythia would never really understand what she'd been missing.And she'd never meet her bio-dad.
Going South
Ella Yelich-O'Connor (Lorde) - 2021
It documents her experience visiting the continent of Antarctica in January 2019 with photos taken by New Zealand photographer Harriet Were. Lorde expressed an interest in exploring the region of Antarctica since she was old enough to read. In January 2019, she visited Scott Base and McMurdo Station, Antarctica, travelling as an Antarctic Ambassador. During her visit, she observed microscopic species in environmental laboratories and spoke with scientists. Lorde described the book as "sort of a perfect precursor" to her upcoming third studio album. It will feature over 100 pages of images taken by New Zealand photographer Harriet Were and writings from Lorde. All proceeds will be used to fund a postgraduate scholarship created by Antarctica New Zealand, a government agency.
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There
Tara Schuster - 2020
By all appearances, she had mastered being a grown-up. But beneath that veneer of success, she was a chronically anxious, self-medicating mess. No one knew that her road to adulthood had been paved with depression, anxiety, and shame, owing in large part to her minimally parented upbringing. She realized she’d hit rock bottom when she drunk-dialed her therapist pleading for help.Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is the story of Tara’s path to re-parenting herself and becoming a “ninja of self-love.” Through simple, daily rituals, Tara transformed her mind, body, and relationships, and shows how to:• fake gratitude until you actually feel gratitude• excavate your emotional wounds and heal them with kindness• identify your self-limiting beliefs, kick them to the curb, and start living a life you choose• silence your inner frenemy and shield yourself from self-criticism• carve out time each morning to start your day empowered, inspired, and ready to rule• create a life you truly, totally f*cking LOVEThis is the book Tara wished someone had given her and it is the book many of us desperately need: a candid, hysterical, addictively readable, practical guide to growing up (no matter where you are in life) and learning to love yourself in a non-throw-up-in-your-mouth-it’s-so-cheesy way.