Book picks similar to
Love is a UFO by Ken Spillman


family
relationships
childrens-and-ya
dealing-with-grief

The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver


E. Lockhart - 2005
    She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she: lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list), lost her best friend (Kim), lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket), did something suspicious with a boy (#10), did something advanced with a boy (#15), had an argument with a boy (#14), drank her first beer (someone handed it to her), got caught by her mom (ag!), had a panic attack (scary), lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie), failed a math test (she’ll make it up), hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends), became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch) and had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!). But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

Try Not to Breathe


Jennifer R. Hubbard - 2012
    Despite his mother’s anxious hovering and the rumors at school, he’s trying to forget the darkness from which he has escaped. But it doesn’t help that he’s still hiding guilty secrets, or that he longs for a girl who may not return his feelings. Then he befriends Nicki, who is using psychics to seek contact with her dead father. This unlikely friendship thaws Ryan to the point where he can face the worst in himself. He and Nicki confide in one another the things they never thought they’d tell anyone—but their confessions are trickier than they seem, and the fallout tests the bounds of friendship and forgiveness.

Divine Clementine


Hayley S. Kirk - 2012
    She catches it and puts it in her pocket for later like she always does. And then it happens. Why doesn't she look? Why doesn't the bus brake? Why is my body frozen? *When 16-and-a-half-year-old Clementine Footner witnesses the tragic death of her eccentric aunt Stella, she feels as thought her world will never be the same again. Clementine idolised her aunt, and their intimate bond was something she treasured deeply. But after finding and reading Stella's diaries, she learns about a very different woman - an unstable, erratic Stella. This Stella suffered from Bipolar . . . and the whole family knew about it. Feeling betrayed and angry, with her life spiralling even further out of control, Clementine trudges through grief, despair, and the middle of nowhere to discover what truly matters.

Remember to Forget


Ashley Royer - 2014
    Desperate to make some positive change in Levi’s life, his mother sends him to live with his father in Maine. Though the idea of moving from Australia to America seems completely daunting, Levi passively accepts his fate, but once he lands faces personal struggles and self-doubt at the same time he and his dad battle through resentment and misunderstanding. And then, while at therapy, Levi meets Delilah, a girl who eerily reminds him of someone he lost.

Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets


Evan Roskos - 2013
    Always positive. I need to be more positive, so I wake myself up every morning with a song of myself.”Sixteen-year-old James Whitman has been yawping (à la Whitman) at his abusive father ever since he kicked his beloved older sister, Jorie, out of the house. James’s painful struggle with anxiety and depression—along with his ongoing quest to understand what led to his self-destructive sister’s exile—make for a heart-rending read, but his wild, exuberant Whitmanization of the world and keen sense of humor keep this emotionally charged debut novel buoyant.

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead


Julie Anne Peters - 2009
    She starts visiting a website for “completers”— www. through-the-light.com.While she’s on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she’s not on the Web, Daelyn’s at her private school, where she’s known as the freak who doesn’t talk.Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she’s waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she’s made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won’t give up. And it’s too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life... isn't it?National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge.

Words and Their Meanings


Kate Bassett - 2014
    Her way of dealing with death equates to daily bouts of coffin yoga and fake-tattooing Patti Smith quotes onto her arms. Once a talented writer, Anna no longer believes words matter, until shocking discoveries– in the form of origami cranes– force her to redefine family and love.As Anna goes in search of the truth, she discovers that while every story, every human being, has a last line, it might still be possible to find the words for a new beginning.

All But One


Julie Oleszek - 2017
    As her high school friends and boyfriend Murph head off to college, Anna still struggles to overcome the wounds of her past while navigating the challenges of the future. Anna wants to confide in Bridgett and Frances, the youngest and oldest of her siblings, but her family’s reticent past, despite their efforts to change, stops her. Meanwhile, as Anna’s friends of the fifth floor are released, they go on with their interrupted lives, and each is tested differently on the lessons they learned together. Nine years later, everyone receives a mailed letter from Jonny Love, a friend who Anna hasn’t seen or heard from since her days on the fifth floor. In the third book of The Fifth Floor trilogy, author Julie Oleszek reunites the patients of the locked psychiatric ward at Advocate Hospital.

The Raven's Wing


Frances Watts - 2014
    On the eve of her fifteenth birthday, Claudia is unexpectedly summoned to Rome by the father she hasn't seen in ten years, a wealthy and powerful senator. She finds herself with both a new family and a luxurious new home in the capital of the world's greatest empire. But Claudia soon discovers a contest of power and ambition is secretly being waged - and she is the prize. Torn between two rivals for her hand in marriage, she must choose between her duty and her heart ... a choice that could have deadly consequences. From multi-award-winning author Frances Watts comes a gripping mystery of love and intrigue set in Ancient Rome.

Reality Boy


A.S. King - 2013
    Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

Remind Me How This Ends


Gabrielle Tozer - 2017
    Winning scholarships. Heading to uni. Travelling the world. Everyone except Milo Dark. Milo feels his life is stuck on pause. His girlfriend is 200km away, his mates have bailed for bigger things and he is convinced he's missed the memo reminding him to plan the rest of his life. Then Layla Montgomery barrels back into his world after five years without so much as a text message. As kids, Milo and Layla were family friends who shared everything - hiding out in her tree house, secrets made at midnight, and sunny afternoons at the river. But they haven't spoken since her mum's funeral. Layla's fallen apart since that day. She pushed away her dad, dropped out of school and recently followed her on-again-off-again boyfriend back to town because she has nowhere else to go. Not that she's letting on how tough things have been. What begins as innocent banter between Milo and Layla soon draws them into a tangled mess with a guarantee that someone will get hurt. While it's a summer they'll never forget, is it one they want to remember? A boy-meets-girl-again story from the award-winning author of The Intern and Faking It.

Promise Me Happy


Robert Newton - 2019
    The way you’re made up, the important stuff, I reckon you’re born with that . . . when it matters, when it really matters, we are who we are.Nate’s had it tough. An abusive father. His mother dead. He’s done things he regrets.But he’s never met anyone like Gem. She’s a tiny piece of wonderful and she’ll change everything he knows about himself. Is this the beginning of happiness? Or is there more hardship around the corner?

Zac and Mia


A.J. Betts - 2013
    Now I believe in science, statistics, and antibiotics.So says seventeen-year-old Zac Meier during a long, grueling leukemia treatment in Perth, Australia. A loud blast of Lady Gaga alerts him to the presence of Mia, the angry, not-at-all-stoic cancer patient in the room next door. Once released, the two near-strangers can’t forget each other, even as they desperately try to resume normal lives. The story of their mysterious connection drives this unflinchingly tough, tender novel told in two voices.

Say What You Will


Cammie McGovern - 2014
    Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them.Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.

Dear Life, You Suck


Scott Blagden - 2013
    Ain’t playing with a full deck. Whacked-out wiring. Missing marbles.” Irreverent, foulmouthed seventeen-year-old Cricket is the oldest ward in a Catholic boys’ home in Maine—and his life sucks. With prospects for the future that range from professional fighter to professional drug dealer, he seems doomed to a life of “criminal rapscallinity.” In fact, things look so bleak that Cricket can’t help but wonder if his best option is one final cliff dive into the great unknown. But then Wynona Bidaban steps into his world, and Cricket slowly realizes that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t totally suck.