Goodbye, Perfect


Sara Barnard - 2018
    . . Now you are wild - what am I? Eden McKinley knows she can’t count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So it’s a complete shock when, five days before the start of their GCSEs, Bonnie runs away with a guy Eden knows nothing about. And it's the last person she would ever have expected.As the days pass, and her world begins to unravel, Eden is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her best friend and herself.

Rain Dance


Karen Wood - 2014
    'It's a big fancy ball, heaps of fun.' Boy, could this girl use some fun. And some rump steak.Holly shook her head.Kaydon gave up. Trying to make her smile was like doing a rain dance. There were clouds and rumblings, and a sprinkle here and there. But no amount of fancy footwork was going to make it happen for real.Holly Harvey doesn't want to move to Gunnedah, far from her friends and her home near the beach. And she's a vegetarian, so living on a beef property, with cattle yards, polo ponies and pig-shooting, makes it even worse. She and Kaydon are worlds apart - until a fight breaks out at the fundraising ball.Another addictive romance from the author of Jumping Fences.

False Gods


L.R. Trovillion - 2014
    Or is there? Cory Iverson has her sights set on riding in the prestigious Washington International Horse Show—a tall order for even the most experienced competitors. Problem is, she doesn’t even own a horse. But there’s an even bigger problem: she’s a quitter. Not a casual quitter, but a hard-core, serial, when-the-going-gets-tough quitter. This all starts to change, however, when the opportunity arises to rescue the perfect horse from slaughter and work with an experienced trainer who has the means to get her there. If she stays the course. But Cory discovers the road to qualifying for Washington is littered with roadblocks when she finds herself surrounded by problems outside her control: prescription painkillers appear in her mother’s purse; her ballerina sister wastes away before her eyes; her boyfriend is keeping secrets from her; and her normally opinionated trainer becomes strangely evasive. Worst of all, the horse show world proves to be full of dangers, including an unscrupulous trainer headed for the same show who will stop at nothing to win, including killing. Unless Cory quits.

Infandous


Elana K. Arnold - 2015
    Even though they scrape by in the seedier part of Venice Beach, she's always felt lucky. As a child, she imagined she was a minor but beloved character in her mother's fairy tale. But now, at sixteen, the fairy tale is less Disney and more Grimm. And she wants the story to be her own. Then she meets Felix, and the fairy tale takes a turn she never imagined. Sometimes, a story is just a way to hide the unspeakable in plain sight.

Just Friends


Tiffany Pitcock - 2017
    But after they rescue a doomed assignment with one clever lie, the whole school is suddenly convinced that Little-Miss-Really-Likes-Having-A’s and the most scandalous heartbreaker in school have been best friends forever. It’s amazing how quickly a lie can grow―especially when you really, really want it to be the truth.With Jenny, Chance can live the normal life he’s always kind of wanted. And with Chance, Jenny can have the exciting teen experiences that TV shows and movies have always promised. Through it all, they hold on to the fact that they are “just friends.” But that might be the biggest lie of all.Debut author Tiffany Pitcock delivers a spot-on depiction of first love and the high school rumor mill in Just Friends, chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads.

Chelsea High


Jenny Oliver - 2020
    But when her chaotic dad’s latest get-rich-quick plan ends up getting him arrested, Norah’s life is turned upside down.Norah Whittaker has grown up on a houseboat, spending her days fishing and helping her mum out at her vintage clothing market stall. But when her dad’s latest get-rich scheme ends up getting him arrested, Norah’s life is turned upside down.Grandparents (incredibly rich ones) that Norah never knew had existed enrol her at exclusive Chelsea High School. There are polo lessons, ski trips and parties photographed by glossy magazines. Norah has never felt so out of place. And everyone else there thinks so, too.But at Chelsea High, the path of true love never runs smooth . . .

Horse Heaven


Jane Smiley - 1999
    Haunting, exquisite Rosalind Maybrick, wife of a billionaire owner, one day can't quite decide what it is she wants, and discovers too late that her whole life is transformed . . . Twenty-year-old Tiffany Morse, stuck in her job at Wal-Mart, prays, "Please make something happen here . . . This time, I mean it," and something does . . . Farley, a good trainer in a bad slump; Buddy, a ruthless trainer who can't seem to lose even though he knows that his personal salvation depends upon it; Roberto, an apprentice jockey who has "the hands" but is growing too big for his dream career with every passing day; Leo the gambler and his earnest son, Jesse, who understands everything about his father's "system" except why it doesn't work; Elizabeth, the 62-year-old theorist of sex and animal communication, and her best friend, Joy, the mare manager at the ranch at the center of the universe—all are woven together by the horses that pass among them: Two colts and two fillies who begin with the promise of talent and breeding, and now might or might not achieve stardom. There are the geldings—Justa Bob, the plain brown horse who always wins by a nose, a lovable claimer who passes from owner to owner on a heart-wrenching journey down from the winner's circle; and the beautiful Mr. T., raced in France and rescued in Texas, who is discovered to have some unusual and amazing talents. And then there is the Jack Russell terrier, Eileen, a dog with real convictions—and the will to implement them.The strange, compelling, sparkling, and mysterious universe of horse racing that has fascinated generations of punters and robber barons, horse-lovers and wits, has never before been depicted with such verve and originality, such tenderness, such clarity, and, above all, such sheer exuberance.

Don't Trust the Impostor


Victorine E. Lieske - 2019
    And charming. And a total fake. Destiny couldn't help but like Eli. He was cute and always knew what to say to make her pulse race. But she was dating Jack so she kept her distance. Too bad Jack was treating her like a jerk. When she finally decided to dump the jerk so she could go out with Eli, she overhears Eli talking on the phone and finds out the truth. Eli was not actually into her. He was being paid to flirt with her. Destiny swears she will never speak to Eli again. But he won't stop. Her heart is torn. Can she trust the impostor?

Riding Lessons


Sara Gruen - 2004
    Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished. Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch. But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.

Defining Gravity


Genevieve Mckay - 2017
    He controls her weight, her friends, and even her career path. And he doesn’t approve of anyone in their family thinking for themselves. When one impulsive decision ends in disaster, Astrid is grounded for the summer, forced to put her archery career on hold and take a menial job cleaning stalls at a posh dressage barn. It takes a little horse named Quarry and a quirky cast of characters to banish Astrid's unhappiness and show her that she is worth something. But when her father steps in, once again, everything Astrid has grown to love is threatened.

Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me


Gae Polisner - 2020
    Together, they were unstoppable. But they aren't the friends they once were.With JL's father gone on long term business, and her mother suffering from dissociative disorder, JL takes solace in the tropical butterflies she raises, and in her new, older boyfriend, Max Gordon. Max may be rough on the outside, but he has the soul of a poet (something Aubrey will never understand). Only, Max is about to graduate, and he's going to hit the road—with or without JL.JL can't bear being left behind again. But what if devoting herself to Max not only means betraying her parents, but permanently losing the love of her best friend? What becomes of loyalty, when no one is loyal to you?

After the Rain


Natália Gomes - 2021
    So let’s start living.'Two strangersJack was sporty and outgoing. Alice was bookish and introverted. Their lives were on completely different paths.One life-changing tragedyThat is before the day they were in the wrong place at the wrong time: before the day their lives were torn apart in a bombing.A hopeful new friendshipStruggling to cope with their new worlds, their unlikely new friendship helps them find hope. But can they help each other rebuild their lives and start again?

Frat Girl


Kiley Roache - 2018
    Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For the DTC brothers, the F-word is feminist—the type of person who writes articles in the school paper about why they should lose their home.With one shot at a scholarship to attend the university of her dreams, Cassie pitches a research project: to pledge Delta Tau Chi and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior. They’re frat boys. She knows exactly what to expect once she gets there. Exposing them should be a piece of cake.But the boys of Delta Tau Chi have their own agenda, and fellow pledge Jordan Louis is certainly more than the tank top wearing “bro” Cassie expected to find. With her heart and her future tangled in the web of her own making, Cassie is forced to realize that the F-word might not be as simple as she thought after all.

Good Enough: A Shay James Mystery


Brenda McCreight - 2010
    Her sense of belonging is threatened when the stableowner is hurt by a mysterious attacker and in the aftermath decides to sells his horses if the criminal isn't found. Shay and her two best friends determine to find the criminal - at the cost of their own safety.

The A Circuit


Georgina Bloomberg - 2011
    It's a world with its own rules and superprivileged lifestyles. Teens travel the circuit all year, showing horses that cost as much as some homes.Tommi, Kate, and Zara are all elite competitors on the circuit, but they come from totally different backgrounds. Tommi is a billionaire heiress trying to prove she has real talent (not just deep bank accounts). Kate puts the working in working student-every win has been paid for with hours of cleaning stalls. She's used to the grueling schedule, but Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy, is about to become a major distraction. And then there's Zara. She's the wild child of a famous rockstar, but she's ready to take riding seriously. Can a party girl really change her ways?Readers who enjoy peeking into the elite world of Gossip Girl or The A-List will feel right at home in this new series with its friendships, drama, and privilege set against the backdrop of competitive horseback riding.