Tears of a Tiger


Sharon M. Draper - 1994
    He's consumed with guilt for driving the night of the accident after a long evening of drinking and partying. With perceptiveness and compassion, Sharon M. Draper portrays an African-American teenager who feels driven to consider suicide in the wake of a devastating tragedy.

Clover Blue


Eldonna Edwards - 2019
     There are many things twelve-year-old Clover Blue isn't sure of: his exact date of birth, his name before he was adopted into the Saffron Freedom Community, or who his first parents were. What he does know with certainty is that among this close-knit, nature-loving group, he is happy. Here, everyone is family, regardless of their disparate backgrounds--surfer, midwife, Grateful Dead groupie, Vietnam deserter. But despite his loyalty to the commune and its guru-like founder Goji, Blue grapples with invisible ties toward another family--the one he doesn't remember.With the urging of his fearless and funny best friend, Harmony, Clover Blue begins to ask questions. For the first time, Goji's answers fail to satisfy. The passing months bring upheaval to their little clan and another member arrives, a beautiful runaway teen named Rain, sparking new tensions. As secrets slowly unfurl, Blue's beliefs--about Goji, the guidelines that govern their seemingly idyllic lives, and the nature of family itself--begin to shift. With each revelation about a heartbreaking past he never imagined, Blue faces a choice between those he's always trusted, and an uncertain future where he must risk everything in his quest for the truth.Part coming-of-age tale, part love story, part mystery, Clover Blue tenderly explores an unconventional but no less complex family that resonates with our deep-rooted yearning for home.

The Call of the Wild


Archie Oliver - 1998
    Kidnapped, beaten and starved, Buck becomes a legend when he is shipped to the snowy northern goldfields to work as a sled dog.Buck's companions have become almost as famous. There's Spitz, the dog that Buck must fight for the leadership of the pack, the one-eyed Sol-leks, the tragic Curly, Dave, Joe, Pike, Dub and Dolly. And there's John Thornton, the new master who Buck comes to love.Yet Buck knows that one day he must leave the human world, for his ancestors are telling him to answer the call of the wild.

After


Kristin Harmel - 2010
    And secretly? She feels like it’s her fault. If she hadn’t taken her own sweet time getting ready that morning . . . well, it never would have happened. Her mom wouldn’t be a basket case. Her brother Logan wouldn’t drink. And her little brother would still have two parents.But life goes on even if you don’t want it to. And when Lacey gets the chance to make a difference in the lives of some people at school, she jumps at it. Making lemonade out of lemons is her specialty. Except she didn’t count on meeting a guy like Sam. Or that sometimes? Lemonade can be a pretty bitter drink to swallow.

Endless Summer


Jennifer Echols - 2010
    One unforgettable summer. Lori can’t wait for her summer at the lake. She loves wakeboarding and hanging with her friends—including the two hotties next door. With the Vader brothers, she's always been just one of the guys. Now that she’s turning sixteen, she wants to be seen as one of the girls, especially in the eyes of Sean, the older brother. But that’s not going to happen—not if the younger brother, Adam, can help it.Lori plans to make Sean jealous by spending time with Adam. Adam has plans of his own for Lori. As the air heats up, so does this love triangle. Will Lori’s romantic summer melt into one hot mess?

Please Don't Stop the Music


Jane Lovering - 2011
    Trouble is, her jewellery business looks set to fail - until enigmatic Ben Davies offers to stock her handmade belt buckles in his guitar shop and things start looking up, on all fronts.But Ben has secrets too. When Jemima finds out he used to be the front man of hugely successful Indie rock band Willow Down, she wants to know more. Why did he desert the band on their US tour? Why is he now a semi-recluse?And the curiosity is mutual - which means that her own secret is no longer safe ...

What's Eating Gilbert Grape


Peter Hedges - 1991
    1,091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her TV chair is threatening to cave in. Gilbert's long-suffering older sister, Amy, still mourns the death of Elvis, and his knockout younger sister has become hooked on makeup, boys, and Jesus--in that order, but the biggest event on the horizon for all the Grapes is the eighteenth birthday of Gilbert's younger brother, Arnie, who is a living miracle just for having survived so long. As the Grapes gather in Endora, a mysterious beauty glides through town on a bicycle and rides circles around Gilbert, until he begins to see a new vision of his family and himself.

Objects in Mirror


Tudor Robins - 2013
    For the first time ever Grace is as thin as she wants to be – nearly – and there’s no way she’s giving that up.Except, what if she has to give up other things to be able to keep wearing her new “skinny” breeches?What if it comes down to a choice between all the horses she loves – Sprite, the ferocious jumper, and Iowa, the sweet greenie, and Whinny, the abused but tough mare – and the numbers on the scale, the numbers on food labels, the numbers always running through her head?Grace knows what her stepmother, Annabelle, wants her to decide. She knows what Matt – gorgeous, amazing Matt – wants her to do. She knows what the doctors think.But she also knows nobody else can make this decision for her. And sometimes she’s not even sure if she’s got the strength to do it.There is danger in living with anorexia, and there is also hope. Objects in Mirror is a truthful exploration of these extremes and of the struggles that lie between them.

Go Kart Rush


Jake Maddox - 2007
    With his old kart, he won every single race. But now he's twelve, and he's moved up to the next class of racing, TAG karts. Sure, he gets to drive a cool new kart that goes faster than anything he's ever driven. But he has to race against kids three years older than him, who aren't nice to him, and who have been driving TAG karts for years. How is Tony supposed to get used to losing? And when Jon, one of the older kids, invites him to practice, is Jon just setting Tony up for more embarrassment?

The Summer of Skinny Dipping


Amanda Howells - 2010
    But I'm jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life.My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything

Bang!


Sharon G. Flake - 2005
    Bang! And people bleed from everywhere, and blood is redder than you think. And little kids look funny in caskets. That's 'cause they ain't meant to be in one, I guess.Mann is only thirteen, yet he has already had to deal with more than most go through in a lifetime. His family is still reeling from the tragic shooting death of his little brother, Jason, each person coping with grief in his or her own way. Mann's mother has stopped eating and is obsessed with preserving Jason's memory, while his father is certain that presenting a hard edge is the only way to keep his remaining son from becoming a statistic. Mann used to paint and ride horseback, but now he's doing everything he can to escape his emotions: getting involved in fights at school, joyriding at midnight, and much worse. His father, at his wit's end, does the only thing he thinks will teach his son how to be a man: he abandons him and his friend Kee-Lee in the woods, leaving them to navigate their way home, alone.Now Mann, struggling to find his way back to civilization, must also reconcile himself to the realities of a world that has stolen his little brother, and that isn't even sure it still wants Mann in it. One wrong turn and it could all be over for him, too. Bang.

Looking for Alaska / An Abundance of Katherines / Paper Towns / The Fault in Our Stars


John Green - 2011
    Exclusive edition contains signed copies of Looking for Alaska and the Fault in Our Stars.The exquisite library case designed by Karen Kavett features popular quotes and icons from all four titles and the award-winning backlist has been luxuriously upgraded; both An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns have jacket designs never before available as hardcover editions.

She Said, She Said


Celeste O. Norfleet - 2008
    She can barely handle one minute with her controlling, critical mom. But when they arrive, her life gets even worse! Her mother is suddenly acting like she's trying out for Moms Gone Wild, partying with her old high school crowd. Now Tamika's the responsible one: taking care of business and stuck on a nice guy instead of a player. She wouldn't mind a little bit of her old mom back. Wait a minute, did she really say that?

The Guy Next Door


Percabeth5599
    She has been in love with Alec Evans, the unattainabley popular football quarterback and her next door neighbour forever. She thinks she's in for a quiet senior year until Jake Henderson arrives. Bad boy extraordinaire, he's arrogant, rude, undeniably gorgeous and shares a past with Clara that she wants to do nothing more than to forget.Caught between two boys, her life is turned upside down in the most ridiculous of ways. But maybe in the midst of all the confusion and chaos she finds not only love but also herself.

The Rules of Attraction


Bret Easton Ellis - 1987
    Bret Easton Ellis trains his incisive gaze on the kids at self-consciously bohemian Camden College and treats their sexual posturings and agonies with a mixture of acrid hilarity and compassion while exposing the moral vacuum at the center of their lives. The Rules of Attraction is a poignant, hilarious take on the death of romance.