Book picks similar to
On Delicate Wings by L.J. Higgins


young-adult
adolescence
relationships
shelf-h-authors

Thousand Words


Jennifer Brown - 2013
    So at a legendary end-of-summer pool party, Ashleigh's friends suggest she text him a picture of herself -- sans swimsuit -- to take with him. Before she can talk herself out of it, Ashleigh strides off to the bathroom, snaps a photo in the full-length mirror, and hits "send." But when Kaleb and Ashleigh go through a bad breakup, Kaleb takes revenge by forwarding the text to his baseball team. Soon the photo has gone viral, attracting the attention of the school board, the local police, and the media. As her friends and family try to distance themselves from the scandal, Ashleigh feels completely alone -- until she meets Mack while serving her court-ordered community service. Not only does Mack offer a fresh chance at friendship, but he's the one person in town who received the text of Ashleigh's photo -- and didn't look. Acclaimed author Jennifer Brown brings readers a gripping novel about honesty and betrayal, redemption and friendship, attraction and integrity, as Ashleigh finds that while a picture may be worth a thousand words . . . it doesn't always tell the whole story.

Come Find Me, Sage Parker


Aliza Latta - 2017
    “I’ll be back soon, my darling,” her mother, Sage, said the day she left. “Don't you worry. I just need to go find myself.”Do you have to run away in order to find yourself? Maeve wondered. When, exactly, do you know when that self you were so desperately looking for is found?Now Maeve is sixteen-years-old and Sage still hasn’t returned.Fiercely independent and disillusioned, Maeve has grown up with her mother’s ex-boyfriend as her only companion. Giving up all hope of Sage’s return, she convinces herself that mothers—and people—are unnecessary. When she meets Ky and Levi, she is adamant about keeping them at arms length. But Ky, the only true friend Maeve knows, and Levi, the boy with the startling blue eyes, crash through Maeve’s walls.Then one of them is wrenched away—permanently. And Maeve is left dangling with the final words they left behind: go find Sage Parker.

Girl Last Seen


Heather Anastasiu - 2016
    She and her best friend, Lauren DeSanto, watched their songs go viral on YouTube, then she launched a solo career when a nasty throat infection paralyzed Lauren's vocal chords. Everyone knows Lauren and Kadence had a major falling-out over Kady's boyfriend. But Lauren knows how deceptive Kadence could be sometimes. And nobody believes Lauren when she claims she had nothing to do with the disappearance. Or the blood evidence… As the town and local media condemns Lauren, she realizes the only way to clear her name is to discover the truth herself. Lauren slowly unravels the twisted life of Kadence Mulligan and sees that there was more to her than she ever knew. But will she realize she's unknowingly playing a part in an elaborate game to cover up a crime before it's too late?

Hunt


Rohan Hublikar - 2021
    A powerful young master. An alliance Kingdoms are made from.Centuries before a certain dungeon first met a wise pink wisp, the world was torn apart by war. For a time, even the Guild was shaken to its core as a wave of necromantic cultivators surged forth from the dark corners of the earth.Garron feels the impact of war differently than most, as a servant in the estate of a Mage that left for the war. The young lord Andros and his servant have been left in the tender care of the ambitious cultivator, Jackson. The workload is a death sentence: Andros is forced to train in near-isolation, and Garron has fallen ill. One fateful night, they make a run for survival and freedom.Jackson doesn’t take kindly to his meal ticket vanishing into the night. The Hunt is on.A Divine Dungeon Universe.

The Big Book of Interesting Stuff


Michael Hopkins - 2013
    

Sex & Violence


Carrie Mesrobian - 2013
    He has a strategy--knows the profile of The Girl Who Would Say Yes. In each new town, each new school, he can count on plenty of action before he and his father move again. Getting down is never a problem. Until he hooks up with the wrong girl and finds himself in the wrong place at very much the wrong time.AND THEN YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING ELSE.After an assault that leaves Evan bleeding and broken, his father takes him to the family cabin in rural Pearl Lake, Minnesota, so Evan's body can heal. But what about his mind?HOW DO YOU GO ON, WHEN YOU CAN'T THINK OF ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER?Nothing seems natural to Evan anymore. Nothing seems safe. The fear--and the guilt--are inescapable. He can't sort out how he feels about anyone, least of all himself. Evan's really never known another person well, and Pearl Lake is the kind of place where people know everything about each other--where there might be other reasons to talk to a girl. It's annoying as hell. It might also be Evan's best shot to untangle sex and violence.

This Will Be Funny Someday


Katie Henry - 2021
    After the show, she meets Mo, an aspiring comic who’s everything Izzy’s not: bold, confident, comfortable in her skin. Mo invites Izzy to join her group of friends and introduces her to the Chicago open mic scene.The only problem? Her new friends are college students—and Izzy tells them she’s one, too. Now Izzy, the dutiful daughter and model student, is sneaking out to perform stand-up with her comedy friends, and she can hardly remember all the lies she’s telling to keep her two lives separate.Her controlling boyfriend is getting suspicious, and her former best friend knows there’s something going on. But Izzy loves comedy and this newfound freedom. As her two parallel lives collide—in the most hilarious of ways—Izzy must choose to either hide what she really wants and who she really is or, finally, truly stand up for herself.

The Orange Houses


Paul Griffin - 2009
    She's hearing impaired and way too smart for her West Bronx high school. She copes by reading lips and selling homework answers, and looks forward to the time each day when she can be alone in her room drawing. She's a tough girl who never gets close to anyone, until she meets Fatima, a teenage refugee who sells newspapers on Mik's block. Both Mik and Fatima unite in their efforts to befriend Jimmi, a homeless vet who is shunned by the rest of the community. The events that follow when these three outcasts converge will break open their close-knit community and change the lives of those living in the Orange Houses in explosive and unexpected ways.

The Anti-Prom


Abby McDonald - 2011
    Popular Bliss was having the perfect prom until she found her BFF and boyfriend making out in the back of a limo. Bad girl Jolene wouldn’t be caught dead at the prom, yet here she is, trussed up in pink ruffles, risking her reputation for some guy - some guy who is forty minutes late. And shy, studious, über-planner Meg never counted on her date’s standing her up and leaving her idling in the parking lot outside the prom. Get ready for The Anti-Prom, Abby McDonald’s hilarious, heart-tugging tale about three girls and one unforgettable prom night.

When Zoey Fell Too Far


Amy Sparling - 2016
    In fact, she just went on a date with a super hot senior, thank you very much. But what she thought was a fun date leads to a new nickname on the school’s unofficial Dis List: Biggest Prude. Maybe if she wasn’t such a pathetically good rule follower, she could get her name off the list. Maybe, just maybe, if Zoey started living less like an old lady and more like a seventeen-year-old girl, she could experience high school like everyone else does. Fed up with being a loser, Zoey decides to experience all the things she’s missed out on over the years: parties, underage drinking, ditching class, and most off all, hooking up. Guys seem to love the attention she gives them, all except for Jonah Thedford. The gorgeous bad boy can flirt better than anyone but he’s the only guy immune to Zoey’s charms. And yeah, he’s the one she truly wants, but in order to stop being a prude, Zoey gives her affection to other guys instead.It turns out that crossing over to the dark side is easy. Almost too easy. The moment Zoey’s name drops off the Dis List, it’s added right back. As Biggest Slut.If she wants to make things right again, she’ll have to change a few things in her new crazy life. Luckily, Jonah is more than willing to help her.

Pivotal Moments


Trinity Hanrahan - 2016
    She’s getting ready for a life beyond senior year, and wonders where she’ll fit in to the world once she’s officially an adult. Though her curves are to kill for, she’s also smart and funny. However, she isn’t at all popular, which is just fine with her.Aislinn’s introverted ways are about to be put to the test...Content with hiding from the limelight, Aislinn doesn’t get bullied like so many other shy kids do—that is, as long as she keeps to herself. But is she really living the life she’s meant to? Or are there unforeseen adventures waiting to shake up her life in the near future?When her brother comes home from college, he brings an unexpected houseguest…Teagan Aldridge is a reformed party animal, ladies’ man, and bad boy. He’s the last person Aislinn thought would ever show her attention. But when Aislinn and Teagan become unlikely friends, he brings out a side of herself she never knew existed. She already knows she’s special, but sexy and adventurous? That’s a first.Are their personalities too far apart, or will opposites attract, making them an unusual, but influential pair? When their vast differences collide, Aislinn is led to some unexpected…Pivotal Moments

Six Impossible Things


Fiona Wood - 2010
    Fourteen-year-old nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a reversal of family fortune, moving house, new school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and an impossible crush on the girl next door.His life is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things..."I loved this book so much I wanted to be in it." Kaz Cooke

Accidentally on Purpose


Bree Stonefield
    Accidentally. On purpose.

Antisocial


Jillian Blake - 2017
    But for Anna Soler, it’s going to be a lonely road. She’s just been dumped by her perfect basketball star boyfriend—with no explanation. Anna’s closest friends, the real ones she abandoned while dating him, are ignoring her. The endearing boy she’s always had a complicated friendship with is almost too sympathetic.But suddenly Anna isn’t the only one whose life has been upended. Someone is determined to knock the kings and queens of the school off their thrones: one by one, their phones get hacked and their personal messages and photos are leaked. At first it’s funny—people love watching the dirty private lives of those they envy become all too public. Then the hacks escalate. Dark secrets are exposed, and lives are shattered. Chaos erupts at school. As Anna tries to save those she cares about most and to protect her own secrets, she begins to understand the reality of our always-connected lives: Sometimes we share too much.

Every Ugly Word


Aimee L. Salter - 2013
    She can’t go a day without fighting with her mother. And no matter how hard she tries, she can’t make her best friend, Matt, fall in love with her. But Ashley also has something no one else does: a literal glimpse into the future. When Ashley looks into the mirror, she can see her twenty-three-year-old self.Her older self has been through it all already—she endured the bullying, survived the heartbreak, and heard every ugly word her classmates threw at her. But her older self is also keeping a dark secret: Something terrible is about to happen to Ashley. Something that will change her life forever. Something even her older self is powerless to stop.