Book picks similar to
Skateboard Blues by Sydell Voeller
inspirational
mom-safe-reading
personal-growth
strong-female-characters
Holding Up the Universe
Jennifer Niven - 2016
Following her mom's death, she's been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby's ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for every possibility life has to offer. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything. Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he's got swagger, but he's also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can't recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He's the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything, but he can't understand what's going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don't get too close to anyone.Until he meets Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them in group counseling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel. Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours.
Hunky Dory
Jean Ure - 2007
They just won't leave him alone.Girls at school and his annoying younger sisters' friends have massive crushes on him, but Dory's passion is for dinosaurs and he is happiest excavating his back garden. His best friend at school is Aaron and his best friend out of school is a girl called the Herb. How will Dory stop girls throwing themselves at him? Why is Aaron holding hands with Sophy Timms? And why is the Herb acting so strange around Dory all of a sudden…
Relatively Strange
Marilyn Messik - 2013
PREFERS QUIET LIFE TO LIFE-THREATENING. HOW’S THAT WORKING OUT THEN?It’s tricky to know what’s normal if you’re not, But Stella’s north west London upbringing is average enough, and her eccentric, protective (paranoid?) family are not given to making a fuss. Only when she finds herself smack dab in the middle of a situation, face to face with the stark reality of medical experimentation and its horrifying consequences, does she realise how sure she is of one thing. This hero stuff just isn't her. Normal, or as near as damn it is what she wants for the future, and if that means smothering her instincts, so be it. At least she'll know, should she slip off the wagon occasionally, it'll be choice not chance.Isn't it a fact though, just when you think you've got yourself back on track, events can overtake and derail you.
The Sanctum
Pamela King Cable - 2016
Pamela Cable leaves readers aching for more.” ~ Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Christy Award winning novel, Into the Free On a November day in 1951 Neeley McPherson turned five ... and accidentally killed her parents. Thrown into the care of her scheming and alcoholic grandfather, she survives by her quick wit, and the watchful eye of an elderly black man, Gideon. In 1959, as equal rights heats up the South, authorities accuse Gideon of stealing a watch and using a Whites Only restroom. Neeley, now thirteen, determines to break him out of jail. When the infamous Catfish Cole, Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon of the Carolinas, discovers their courageous escape, he pursues Neeley and Gideon into the frozen Blue Ridge Mountains to a wolf sanctuary. But will Neeley's actions lead to tragedy again? Or will she finally find the love of family she lost as a child? Set during a volatile time in America, The Sanctum bestows sanctuary and invokes the power of second chances. "I would compare The Sanctum to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Set in the deep south during the Civil Rights Era, this book tackles such issues as racial discrimination and abuse." ~ Kimberly A. Liston-McCabe
A Rifle By The Door
Dan L. Fuller - 2019
Eighteen-year-old Jenny is under no illusions—it’ll take a miracle to survive, much less thrive, in the unforgiving wilderness, particularly when twelve-year-old David fights her every attempt to prepare. Unexpected help arrives when John Beck—once a close friend of their father’s—arrives at their cabin. The tough-as-nails bounty hunter reluctantly agrees to stay through the winter. He owes it to his murdered friend to help Foster’s children build a working ranch, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do. Their uneasy alliance is fraught with hardships, danger, and back-breaking work that still doesn’t guarantee anyone will survive until spring. Especially with their father’s killer still on the loose.
LOA for the Real World: 7 Big Fat Clues to Getting What You Want
Jeannette Maw - 2011
how about you? People everywhere already practice this - not just energy healers and life coaches, but athletes, executives, students, homemakers, leaders, etc. This ebook will help you manage your vibration to get what you want. A few of the things you'll learn in this ebook... 1. The key to effortless manifesting 2. The one time it's ok to ignore the advice you hear again and again from many LOA experts 3. The addiction that prevents you from getting what you want (and how to fix it) 4. You've probably heard that "nothing is more important than that you feel good"... which is true! But I'll tell you when you absolutely must ignore this advice if you want success in your manifesting 5. How to handle manifesting failure 6. And the most powerful habit you can embrace to amp up your manifesting success As someone who has spent over a decade fine tuning my own creation skills and making a living helping others do the same, it's my pleasure to offer you personal insights about where we often get hung up and what to do about it. Love & Miracles - Jeannette Maw Good Vibe Coach
Jo & Laurie
Margaret Stohl - 2020
While pressured into coming up with a story, she goes to New York with her dear friend Laurie for a week of inspiration—museums, operas, and even a once-in-a-lifetime reading by Charles Dickens himself!But Laurie has romance on his mind, and despite her growing feelings, Jo's desire to remain independent leads her to turn down his heartfelt marriage proposal and sends the poor boy off to college heartbroken. When Laurie returns to Concord with a sophisticated new girlfriend, will Jo finally communicate her true heart's desire or lose the love of her life forever?
Whatever Happens
Micalea Smeltzer - 2019
This former popular girl is lost. Her parents uproot everything after her younger sister’s suicide, moving states away to escape the lingering pain of loss. She doesn’t fit in anywhere, but finds herself strangely drawn to the boy she watches view the world through a telescope. Finnley Crawford isn’t your typical boy next door. Being autistic has always set him apart from kids his age. None of them quite knows how to approach him or interact, leaving him only one friend in the form of his support dog. His lack of friendships lead him to a unique love of space and aspirations of one day reaching the stars. For in the stars, he sees a peace and beauty he can’t find on Earth. The more time these two seemingly opposite teenagers spend together, the more they learn it isn’t what’s on the outside that counts. So much can be found on the inside if you only care to look.
The Year I Turned 25: A Memoir About Sex, Anxiety and a Dog Named She-Devil
Raquel Fletcher - 2017
And yet…” The Year I Turned 25 catalogues the ups and downs of a TV reporter in her mid-twenties, who takes on the added challenge of training an adorable, but misbehaving puppy. Sometimes melancholic and other times hilarious, this brave and thought-provoking memoir approaches dating, sexual assault and mental health in a personal, but relatable way. This book is for every woman who ever asked herself if something was wrong with her and for every dog lover who discovered true love in a puppy. “This project isn't about – and was never about – figuring out who I am. It’s about figuring out how to figure out who I am."
The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days
Michele Weber Hurwitz - 2014
Her beloved grandma died last year; her parents work all the time; her brother's busy; and her best friend is into clothes, makeup, and boys. While Nina doesn't know what "her thing" is yet, it's definitely not shopping and makeup. And it's not boys, either. Though . . . has Eli, the boy next door, always been so cute? This summer, Nina decides to change things. She hatches a plan. There are sixty-five days of summer. Every day, she'll anonymously do one small but remarkable good thing for someone in her neighborhood, and find out: does doing good actually make a difference? Along the way, she discovers that her neighborhood, and her family, are full of surprises and secrets. In this bighearted, sweetly romantic novel, things may not turn out exactly as Nina expects. They might be better.
Tell Me Three Things
Julie Buxbaum - 2016
At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?
Beach Town Bad Boy
Maggie Dallen - 2019
It’s been three years since Eleanor last stepped foot in Sterling Beach, and some things haven’t changed. Her old friend Deacon isn’t one of them. Gone is the nice boy she remembers. In his place is a burly, tattooed bouncer with a chip on his shoulder and a grudge against the girl who left and never looked back. He’s not a kid anymore, and his kisses? Those are far from friendly.Eleanor is looking for answers, but what she finds revisiting her favorite beach town haunts has her more confused than ever. The sites look the same but everything that matters has changed. Eleanor and Deacon might not be able go back to the past, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a future...This is a novella in the Boys of Summer series, a collaboration between several YA authors. They are all standalone stories that take place in the same fictional town. Escape to Sterling Beach today!Saving Hadley by Amy SparlingBeach Town Bad Boy by Maggie DallenRiptide by Jordan FordDon’t Fall for the Summer Fling by Tammy AndresenFlirting with the Enemy by Sally HensonBeauty and the Beach by Kayla TirrellFalling for the Rich Boy by Yesenia VargasSummer Love and Basketball by Seven Steps
The Legacy: James (The Legacy Series Book 1)
Tricia Wentworth - 2020
Qualify for the Culling. Find a woman. Win the presidency.It was a carefully cultivated plan that dictated all his life’s decisions . . . until two women upend everything.Twenty-one years after his parents won the presidency, a Culling is called. James has waited his entire life for this moment, a chance to carry on his parents’ legacy. Meanwhile, whispers in Denver of an “Heir’s Curse” make a Reed winning the presidency seem impossible. A presidential heir has never won a Culling before, but there has also never been a Culling where three heirs could qualify. James and his siblings are determined to break the so-called curse and prove them all wrong.But when forced to choose between the easy love that could secure the presidency and a difficult one, what will James do?*This is book 1 of 4 in the spinoff for The Culling series.
Saving Sailor: A Quirky Girl, A Faithful Dog, and One Unforgettable Summer
Renee Riva - 2007
After spending the first half of summer vacation driving her Italian family crazy with her fake southern accent, 10-year old A.J. finds a soul mate on the other side of the island to divert her attention.She is intrigued to learn that Danny shares her same burning desire to know God and realizes that few people her age think as deeply as the two of them do.However, the depth of their newfound faith and friendship is soon tested when Danny's father betrays his wife.Set in a simpler time, Saving Sailor is a heartwarming tale of how hearts can change and relationships can be restored with God's help.
Never Forget
Emma Hart - 2013
That is, until she reconnects with her childhood friend, Jen, and meets Alec Johnson.Alec is the kind of guy Lexy knows she needs to stay away from. He's the village flirt, ridiculously hot and very dangerous to her self control. But there's a problem – she can't seem to keep him out, even though she knows he'll break her heart.As Alec slowly strips away Lexy's defences and the two embark on a summer romance she never wanted, their feelings grow to more than either expected. But nothing lasts forever, and reality intrudes.As her world is shaken to it's core, Lexy's self made prediction comes true when she discovers she's spent six weeks surrounded by secrets. Kept out by her family and the only guy she's ever trusted, she falls apart.And when Grammy tells her that 'you might not end up where you wanted to be, but you'll always end up where you're meant to be,' she has to figure out if her meant to be is back home in London, or if it's been in Devon the whole time.