Who Am I Without Him?: A Short Story Collection about Girls and Boys in Their Lives


Sharon G. Flake - 2004
    Flake.There is "The Ugly One," whose only solace comes when she is locked inside her own head. In "Wanted: A Thug," a teenager seeks advice on how to steal her best friend's bad-guy boyfriend. And then there's Erika, who only likes white boys.​Sharon Flake takes readers through the minds of girls trying to define themselves while struggling to remain relevant to the boys in their lives. This is a complex, often humorous, always on-point exposition of black youth resolving to find self-worth . . . any way they know how.

Tangled


Carolyn Mackler - 2009
    Paradise will change them all.It will change Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer to having a life, and not just reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting.It will change Dakota, who needs the devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn't have to be a jerk just because people think he's one.It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the consequences.And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise. . . .From confused to confident and back again, one thing's certain: Four months after it all begins, none of them will ever be the same.

Defending Elysium


Brandon Sanderson - 2008
    An image of humankind escaping into space. An image of human merchants trading and cheating, of human tyrants capturing the Varvax, Tenasi, and Hommar. Images of wars, of fighting, of a paradise destroyed."Oddly enough, the ones who made first contact were an outdated, nearly bankrupt phone company. Second contact was made by the United Governments Military when they accidentally shot down a Tenasi ambassadorial vessel. The Phone Company negotiated Earth out of danger following the Tenasi incident. The Phone Company had brought FTL communication to humankind.And Phone Company operative Jason Write has sworn to keep the galaxy safe from the barbaric humans who would ruin the Elysium that the galactic races currently enjoy.

Black Boy White School


Brian F. Walker - 2012
    But at Belton things are far from perfect. Everyone calls him “Tony,” assumes he’s from Brooklyn, expects him to play basketball, and yet acts shocked when he fights back.As Anthony tries to adapt to a world that will never fully accept him, he’s in for a rude awakening: Home is becoming a place where he no longer belongs.In debut author Brian F. Walker’s honest and dynamic novel about staying true to yourself, Anthony might find a way to survive at Belton, but what will it cost him?

Hook: Dead to Rights


Melissa Snark - 2018
     Neverland is a cruel lie. Children follow Peter Pan believing their dreams will come true—to never grow up. Surprise, surprise... they never will. The children Peter Pan abducts are murdered or meet a grimmer fate. I'm the child who escaped Peter's treachery. I've made it my life's calling to rescue the Lost Boys, even those who don't wish to be saved. Now Pan has a schooner he's using to steal even more children. I'm the only one who can stop him. Call me Hook. I am the master and commander of a pirate ship, and I'll have my revenge on Peter Pan if it's the last thing I do. Pick up this page turner today! Praise for Hook: Dead to Rights: "I love it!" — Jannie "I highly recommend this book!" — S. Simmons

The Chosen One


Carol Lynch Williams - 2009
    That is, without questioning it much - if you don't count her visits to the Ironton County Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her secret meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her sixty-year-old uncle - who already has six wives - she must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

The Fight


L. Divine - 2006
    . .Proudly hailing from Compton, USA, sixteen-year-old Jayd Jackson is no stranger to drive-by shootings or run-ins with the friendly neighborhood crackhead. Street-smart, book-smart, and life-smart, she's nobody's fool--least of all KJ's, the most popular and cutest basketball jock at South Bay High, aka Drama High. Yes, it's a fact, Jayd fell hard for his player ways for a time, but now that KJ's shown his true colors--dumping Jayd because she refused to give up the cookies--she's through with him and his game playing for good.Jayd just wants to start her Junior year of high school drama free. But wanting ain't getting, especially at a place like Drama High, a predominately white high school in a wealthy part of Los Angeles, where Jayd and 30 other Compton kids get bussed to daily. Saying race relations aren't what they should be would be putting it mildly, and that's just the beginning of the drama. Jayd's first day back to school, KJ's new girlfriend, Trecee, steps to her wanting to fight. Egged on by Misty, Jayd's former best friend-turned-nemesis, Trecee wants to make Jayd understand that KJ is off limits--even if she has to do it with her fists. With the fight set for Friday, and the sistah drama at an all time high, Jayd is about to learn who's really got her back and more importantly, when she's got to watch it. But at least she can always count on Mama, and her mystical bag of tricks.Drama High is a remarkably assured debut, and L. Divine is a tantalizing and refreshing new voice. Jayd and her bold, honest, and laugh-out-loud funny assessment of life, along with her quirky cast of friends, classmates, loves, her magical family and eccentric neighbors make for an irresistible, can't-put-it-down read.

Forever . . .


Judy Blume - 1975
    They're attracted to each other, they grow to love each other. And once they've decided their love is forever, they make love.It's the beginning of an intense and exclusive relationship, with a future all planned. Until Katherine's parents insist that she and Michael put their love to the test with a summer apart...Forever is written for an older age group than Judy Blume's other novels for children. It caused a storm of controversy when it was first published because of its explicit sexual content.

Twisted


Laurie Halse Anderson - 2007
    But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.In Twisted, the acclaimed Laurie Halse Anderson tackles a very controversial subject: what it means to be a man today. Fans and new readers alike will be captured by Tyler’s pitch perfect, funny voice, the surprising narrative arc, and the thoughtful moral dilemmas that are at the heart of all of the author’s award-winning, widely read work.

Freefall


Mindi Scott - 2010
    It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he’s ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving . . .

The New Hunger


Isaac Marion - 2013
    Then came a final blow no one could have expected: all the world’s corpses rising up to make more.Born into this bleak and bloody landscape, twelve-year-old Julie struggles to hold on to hope as she and her parents drive across the wastelands of America, a nightmarish road trip in search of a new home.Hungry, lost, and scared, sixteen-year-old Nora finds herself her brother’s sole guardian after her parents abandon them in the not-quite-empty ruins of Seattle.And in the darkness of a forest, a dead man opens his eyes. Who is he? What is he? With no clues beyond a red tie and the letter “R,” he must unravel the grim mystery of his existence—right after he learns how to think, how to walk, and how to satisfy the monster howling in his belly. The New Hunger is a glimpse of the past and a path to an astonishing future…

Attachments


Rainbow Rowell - 2011
    (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now—reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers—not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained—and captivated—by their stories.By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.What would he say . . . ?

Find Me


Tahereh Mafi - 2019
    In Shadow Me, Juliette is still reeling from Warner's betrayal, and Kenji is trying to balance his friendship with her with his responsibilities as a leader of the resistance against the Reestablishment. Things get even more interesting when an unexpected person from Omega Point’s past surfaces.The fourth novella brings readers back to the Shatter Me world one last time before the final novel installment in the series hits shelves in 2020.The Shatter Me series is perfect for fans who crave action-packed young adult novels with tantalizing romance like Divergent and The Hunger Games. This captivating story was praised as "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love" by Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.And don’t miss Defy Me, the gripping fifth book in the Shatter Me series!

Boy21


Matthew Quick - 2012
    He lives in gray, broken Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish Mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, he takes care of his disabled grandfather, and at school he’s called “White Rabbit”, the only white kid on the varsity basketball team. He’s always dreamed of getting out somehow with his girlfriend, Erin. But until then, when he puts on his number 21, everything seems to make sense.Russ has just moved to the neighborhood. A former teen basketball phenom from a privileged home, his life has been turned upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he now answers only to the name Boy21—his former jersey number—and has an unusual obsession with outer space.As their final year of high school brings these two boys together, “Boy21” may turn out to be the answer they both need.

Ms Ice Sandwich


Mieko Kawakami - 2013
    He is in awe of her aloofness, her skill at slipping sandwiches into bags, and, most electric of all, her ice-blue eyelids. Every day he is drawn to the supermarket just to watch her in action. But life has a way of interfering – there is his mother, forever distracted, who can tell the fortunes of women; his grandmother, silently dying, who listens to his heart; and his classmate, Tutti, no stranger to pain, who shares her private thrilling world with him.Tender, warm, yet unsentimental, Ms Ice Sandwich is a story about new starts, parents who have departed, and the importance of saying goodbye.