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People Kill People
by Ellen Hopkins
What it's about: Follows six teenagers as they are brought into close contact over the course of one tense week, in a town with political and personal tensions that build until one fires a fatal gunshot.
Want more: Ellen Hopkins is know for her poetic novels that take some of the most difficult realities of teen life head on. Find her other titles in the young adult section at the library.
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Impostors
by Scott Westerfeld
What it's about: Frey and Rafi are inseparable . . . but very few people have ever seen them together. This is because Frey is Rafi’s double, raised in the shadows of their rich father’s fortress. While Rafi has been taught to charm, Frey has been taught to kill. Frey only exists to protect her sister. Frey has never been out in the world on her own – until her father sends her in Rafi’s place to act as collateral for a dangerous deal. Everyone thinks she’s her sister – but Col, the son of a rival leader, is starting to get close enough to tell the difference.
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The Librarian of Auschwitz
by Antonio Iturbe
What it's about: A tale based on true events follows the experiences of a teen prisoner in Auschwitz who risks her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.
You may also like: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Another tale of books and the holocaust. It's also on the Great American Read list.
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The Prodigy
by John Feinstein
What it's about: A talented golf star set to earn a full scholarship to the university of his choice is thwarted by his father's ambitions for him to skip school and go straight to the pros, a situation that leads the boy to work with an advisor and navigate the challenges of remaining an amateur long enough to bring home the legendary green jacket.
You may also like: Screaming At The Ump by Audrey Vernick, another tale of living up to a parent's expectations while staying true to yourself.
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| The Sacrifice Box by Martin StewartWhat it's about: In 1982, Sep, Arkle, Lamb, Hadley, and Mack cement their friendship by sealing treasured objects inside an old stone box. By 1986, none of them are still friends -- but someone has reopened the box, and the consequences are devastating.
Read it for: snarky humor paired with horror so gruesome you can practically smell the rotting flesh.
For fans of: zombies, TV's Stranger Things, or '80s-era Stephen King books. |
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For Fans of The Hate U Give
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All American Boys
by Jason Reynolds
What it's about: When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.
Why fans might like it: Both stories face the impossibility of doing the right thing while pleasing everyone involved.
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Anger Is A Gift
by Mark Oshiro
What it's about: A young adult debut by the popular social media personality and critic reflects the racial and economic struggles of today's teens in the story of high school junior Moss, who in the face of a racist school administration decides to organize a protest that escalates into violence.
Why Fans might like it: Both books highlight the conflicts and struggles racism still creates in today's society.
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| Long Way Down by Jason ReynoldsWhat it's about: When 15-year-old Will boards an elevator with a gun in his waistband, he's ready to avenge his brother's murder. But can his resolve outlast the surprises of his ride to the ground floor?
Read it for: spare, page-turning poetry that packs a strong emotional punch.
Why fans might like it: Like The Hate U Give, Long Way Down focuses on one character's grief and internal conflict in the aftermath of murder. |
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How it went down
by Kekla Magoon
What it's about: When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.
Why fans might like it: How It Went Down displays how justice can be hard to find when facts come with a point of view, and expose the reality that truth is never simple.
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| Piecing Me Together by Renée WatsonStarring: aspiring collage artist Jade, who lives in a poor, mostly black neighborhood and goes to a fancy, mostly white high school.
What happens: After being invited into a mentoring program for "at-risk" African American girls, Jade (who doesn't feel particularly "at-risk") is matched with an unhelpful mentor, prompting her to explore success on her own terms.
Why fans might like it: Jade, like Starr, has to juggle two social identities while trying to stay true to herself. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books for age 14 and up!
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