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Realistic FictionHigh School |
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Biology lessons
by Melissa Kantor
Seventeen-year-old Grace, a high school senior with plans of studying in New York, faces an unplanned pregnancy with limited options due to Texas's abortion laws, but with help from her friends, they devise a risky plan to cross state lines for assistance
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We're never getting home
by Tracy Badua
"After their friendship breakup, Jana and Maddy find themselves stuck together on the way to an outdoor music festival where they must navigate stolen phones and missing friends, scale Ferris wheels and crash parties, all the while trying to find their way home?—?and back to each other. "
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Stay with my heart
by Tashie Bhuiyan
"Accidentally sabotaging an up-and-coming local band, music fanatic Liana Sarkar makes it her mission to secretly undo the damage she's caused, but when she falls for the lead singer, she finds it harder to hide the truth.
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A Constellation of Minor Bears
by Jen Ferguson
After her brother suffers a traumatic brain injury, Molly Norris-Norquay is determined to do their planned hike along the Pacific Crest Trail on her own but instead is stuck backpacking with her brother's best friend, whom she blames for the accident.
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Shut up, this is serious
by Carolina Ixta
An unforgettable YA debut about two Latina teens growing up in East Oakland as they discover that the world is brimming with messy complexities.
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What's eating Jackie Oh?
by Patricia Park
"A Korean American teen tries to balance her dream to become a chef with the cultural expectations of her family when she enters the competitive world of a TV cooking show"
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Cancelled
by Farrah Penn
High school senior Brynn Whittaker faces a school-wide scandal when a viral video wrongly implicates her, prompting her and her friends to confront the school's misogynistic culture, while Brynn grapples with the decision to expose the true culprit
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Daniel, deconstructed
by James Ramos
"Photographer and film buff Daniel Sanchez learned a long time ago that the only way to get by in an allistic world is to mask his autism and follow the script. Which means he knows that boisterous, buff, and beautiful soccer superstars like his best friend, Mona Sinclair, shouldn't be wasting time hanging out with introverts...But when Daniel meets a new classmate, Gabe Mendes, who is tall, mysterious, nonbinary, and--somehow--as cool as Mona, Daniel knows exactly how this is going to play out...But matchmaking means stepping into the mystifying and illogical world of love, dating, and relationships, where nothing is as it seems and no one knows their lines"
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Everything we never had
by Randy Ribay
"Set in the 1930s to today, four generations of Filipino American boys grapple with identity, masculinity, and father-son relationships"
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If I promise you wings
by A. K. Small
"An intern at Paris's premier feather boutique where she constructs wings for the dancers at the Moulin Rouge, 17-year-old Alix feels compelled to take risks she never would've before after the death of her best friend and get everything she's ever wanted—but at a high price.
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Louder than words
by Ashley Woodfolk
When an anonymous podcast reveals humiliating secrets about her classmates, ruining their reputations and in some cases their futures, Jordyn finds her plan to take down the podcast thrusting her into the spotlight and threatening to expose her own secret—one that could ruin everything.
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Viva Lola Espinoza!
by Ella Cerâon
Cursed in love, Lola Espinoza finds herself torn between two very different boys during a summer spent with her grandmother in Mexico City, where she tries to break the curse while learning about herself, her heritage and the magic around us all.
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Then everything happens at once
by M-E Girard
When her secret crush, Freddie, makes a move on her and COVID-19 shuts the world down, 16-year-old Baylee is torn between her feelings for him and a boy she met online as she navigates the messy waters of love and desire.
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6 times we almost kissed (and one time we did) / : (And One Time We Did)
by Tess Sharpe
Penny and Tate have often clashed, despite their mothers' epic friendship; but now that they are living in the same house, beset by medical crises and Penny's problems dealing with the trauma of her father's death, they have to come to terms with their true feelings for each other
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16 & pregnant : a novel
by Lala Thomas
Best friends Erykah and Kelly have their junior year planned out, but everything changes when Erykah finds out she is pregnant, and as Kelly tries to support her throughout the pregnancy the two girls learn some harsh realities about the world and are forced to make some huge decisions
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A show for two
by Tashie Bhuiyan
Determined to win the student film competition, Mina makes a deal with indie film star Emmitt Ramos, and as they spend time together and NYC starts to feel more like home than ever before, she wonders if winning is worth losing everything.
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The life and crimes of Hoodie Rosen
by Isaac Blum
"Moving to the quiet, mostly non-Jewish town of Tregaron, Hoodie Rosen falls for the daughter of the mayor who is trying to keep Hoodie's Orthodox Jewish community out of town, and when antisemitic crimes turn deadly, he must choose between his first love and the only world he's ever known.
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That's debatable
by Jen Doll
When the debate tournament takes a scary turn, Millie, a debate legend, and her rival, Taggart, a boy who is everything she isn't, work together and discover they might make a better team than they think.
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May the best man win
by ZR Ellor
"Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, won't let coming out as a transgender boy ruin his senior year. Instead of bowing to the bigots and outdated school administration, Jeremy decides to make some noise--and how better than by challenging his all-star ex-boyfriend, Lukas for the title of Homecoming King? Lukas Rivers, football star and head of the Homecoming Committee, is just trying to find order in his life after his older brother's funeral and the loss of his long-term girlfriend--who turned out to be a boy. But when Jeremy threatens to break his heart and steal his crown, Lukas kickstarts a plot to sabotage Jeremy's campaign. When both boys take their rivalry too far, the dance is on the verge of being canceled. To save Homecoming, they'll have to face the hurt they're both hiding--and the lingering butterflies they can't deny"
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Boys I know
by Anna Gracia
On the rebound, June Chu, who is the“just good enough” girl, throws herself into a new relationship, but as the line between sex and love blurs, she must decide on whose terms she's going to live her life.
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A furry faux paw
by Jessica Kara
Sometimes Your Best Self Is Your Fursona. Online, MauveCat (a cool, confident, glittering pixie cat) has friends and a whole supportive furry community that appreciates her art. At home, Maeve Stephens has to tiptoe around her hoarder mother's mood and mess. When her life is at its hardest, Maeve can always slip into Mauve, her fursona, and be "the happy one," the bubbliest, friendliest artist in her community--it's even how she made her best friend, Jade. With graduation around the corner, Maeve is ready to put her lonely school days behind her and move on with her life. And while her father hasn't been home since the divorce, he does offer her a dream come true: an all-expenses paid trip to the regional furry convention. Furlympia will have everything Maeve's been missing--friends, art mentors, and other furries! So when her mother forbids her from going, Maeve decides to sneak out on her own.
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As long as the lemon trees grow
by Zoulfa Katouh
Volunteering at a hospital Syria, where she witnessed the wounded flooding through the doors, Salama manifests a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion and is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive.
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Meet me in Mumbai
by Sabina Khan
When she finds an old box containing letters addressed to her from her birth mother, one of which asks her to travel to Mumbai when she turns 18 so they can meet, Mira must make a life-changing decision.
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The big reveal
by Jen Larsen
When word gets out that she is putting on a top-secret, invitation-only burlesque show to raise money to attend a life-changing dance program, Addie falls victim to slut- and body-shaming and must learn to embrace exactly who she is.
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Message not found
by Dante Medema
After her best friend, Vanessa, dies tragically, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa to talk to until the bot starts dropping hints about a secret so big, it may have contributed to her death.
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Twice as perfect
by Louisa Onomâe
When fate brings her poet brother Sam back into her life, 17-year-old Adanna Nkwachi learns, through Sam's poetry, that her own happiness is just as important as doing what's expected of her.
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Golden boys
by Phil Stamper
"Gabriel, Reese, Sal, and Heath are best friends, bonded in their small rural town by their queerness, their good grades, and their big dreams. They are about to embark on the summer before senior year of high school, where each is going on a new, big adventure, from attending a design school in Paris to interning on Capitol Hill for a U.S. Senator. What will this summer of new experiences and world-expanding travel mean for each of them--and for their friendship?"
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Boys of the beast
by Monica Zepeda
"Three teenage boy cousins on a road trip through California and the Southwest come to terms with truths about their families and themselves"
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Indivisible
by Daniel Aleman
An American-born teen and his younger sister scramble to keep their family together when they return home from school one day to find that their undocumented parents have been arrested by ICE and are facing possible deportation.
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Love in English
by Maria E. Andreu
Feeling blocked after moving from Argentina to New Jersey, a 16-year-old poet finds herself torn between a cute American boy in her math class and a Greek student who understands the struggles she is facing in an ESL class.
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Happily ever afters
by Elise Bryant
Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She's rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she's a true leading lady is in her own writing--in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader. When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she's excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just...gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she's ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa's stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming. But as Tessa checks each item off Caroline's list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about--including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She's well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?
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The passing playbook
by Isaac Fitzsimons
"Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, and a David Beckham in training. He's also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of isolation and bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio. At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boy's soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans--he's passing. So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer's coach to bench him after he discovers the "F" on Spencer's birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from thesidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even though it would mean coming out to everyone...including the guy he's falling for"
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List of ten
by Halli Gomez
A suicidal teen fighting the symptoms of Tourette syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder creates a bucket list of 10 goals to achieve by the 10th anniversary of his diagnosis, before a newcomer with her own troubled history unknowingly offers him more hopeful perspectives.
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Prepped
by Bethany Mangle
Raised in a community of doomsday preppers and survivalists, a girl hides her plan to leave from the boy selected to be her husband, before a devastating accident catapults her neighbors into full-blown paranoia.
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Between the bliss and me
by Lizzy Mason
Disappointing her family with college ambitions that position her closer to an impossible crush, Sydney uncovers devastating truths about her father's genetic mental illness and related homelessness.
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One of the good ones / : Shouldn't Being Human Be Enough?
by Maika Moulite
"When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered"
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The mythic Koda Rose
by Jennifer Nissley
Moving to New York City, the place where her famous musician father died, Koda Rose becomes obsessed with learning about his life while dealing with her feelings for her best friend, Lindsay.
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The knockout
by Patel, Sajni
When seventeen-year-old Kareena Thakkar finally admits she is a top-level Muay Thai fighter, knowing that might further alienate her from her Indian community, her classmates, especially handsome Amit, enthusiastically support her
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Better together
by Christine Riccio
With the help of some fortuitous magic, sisters Jamie and Siri, reunited after being apart for 10 years, switch places to get to know and confront their estranged parents while dealing with a parade of hijinks and budding romances.
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We are not from here
by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Pulga has his dreams. Chico has his grief. Pequeäna has her pride. And these three teens have one another. But, none of them have illusions about the town they've grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Even with the love of family, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the trio knows they have no choice but to run: from their country, from their families, from their beloved home. Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico, they follow the route of La Bestia, the perilous train system that might deliver them to a better life -- if they are lucky enough to survive the journey. With nothing but the bags on their backs and desperation drumming through their hearts, Pulga, Chico, and Pequeäna know there is no turning back, despite the unknown that awaits them. And the darkness that seems to follow wherever they go
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The half-orphan's handbook
by Joan F. Smith
When sixteen-year-old Lila's mother sends her to a summer-long grief camp, following the suicide of Lila's father, potential new friends and a new crush threaten to drag her back into life, but facing the truth about her family will be the hardest part of moving on
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Every single lie
by Rachel Vincent
High school junior Beckett's life is turned upside-down when she discovers a dead baby in her small-town high school's locker room, and her police detective mother investigates while cyberbullies claim it is Beck's child
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The feminist agenda of Jemima Kincaid
by Kate Hattemer
Hating school dance traditions that make girls desperate for dates and disallow gender-diverse students, a young feminist lands on the prom committee and suggests creative new approaches at the same time she becomes estranged from her best friend.
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Patron saints of nothing
by Randy Ribay
When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more
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Private lessons
by Cynthia Salaysay
Channeling her grief over her father's death by devoting herself to the piano, 17-year-old Claire forgoes a social life to study under a prominent teacher who she gradually realizes has a manipulative and abusive nature.
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Hearts unbroken
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
When Louise Wolfe's boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. She'd rather spend her senior year with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, an ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper's staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director's inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey. But 'dating while Native' can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey's?
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We used to be friends
by Amy Spalding
"At the start of their senior year in high school, James (a girl with a boy's name) and Kat are inseparable, but by graduation, they're no longer friends. James prepares to head off to college as she reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Katwhile, in alternating chapters, Kat thinks about being newly in love and having a future that feels wide open"
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The easy part of impossible
by Sarah Tomp
Freed from an abusive coach who dominated her Olympics ambitions, a talented young diver struggling with ADHD and trauma rekindles a friendship with a boy on the autism spectrum before her coach returns to her life with a hard-to-resist offer.
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Parachutes
by Kelly Yang
A teen from a privileged Asian family navigates culture shock, unexpected freedom and a new relationship while attending school in California and renting a room from the family of an Ivy League hopeful whose debate coach has undermined her plans.
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Punching the air
by Ibi Aanu Zoboi
The award-winning author of American Street and the prison reform activist of the Exonerated Five trace the story of a young artist and poet whose prospects at a diverse art school are threatened by a racially biased system and a tragic altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood.
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With the fire on high
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Navigating the challenges of finishing high school while caring for a daughter, talented cook Emoni Santiago struggles with a lack of time and money that complicate her dream of working in a professional kitchen.
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Goodbye, perfect : a novel
by Sara Barnard
When her best friend runs away with a teacher, Eden is forced to question her friendship and herself
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Hello girls
by Brittany Cavallaro
Fed up with their controlling, manipulative and abusive families, two teen girls bond over a local fire and consider turning in their relatives before embarking on a road trip to Vegas in a stolen convertible.
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Tell me everything
by Sarah Enni
Preferring to keep her head low at the start of sophomore year, Ivy immerses herself in an art-sharing app and decides to create anonymous gifts when she discovers that some of her classmates are among the artists she admires.
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Dig
by A. S. King
When their rags-to-riches grandparents decide against bequeathing the family fortune to their descendants, five teens confront difficult secrets and the realities of their disadvantages before uniting in the face of a terrible choice to save the family name.
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Heroine
by McGinnis, Mindy
Determined to see her softball team through a historic tournament run despite severe injuries, a socially awkward teen is prescribed opioid painkillers that initially help, before high pressure leads to an out-of-control addiction.
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The spaces between us
by Stacia Tolman
Outcasts and best friends Serena Velasco and Melody Grimshaw strive together to survive senior year and break away from their rural factory town
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Girls on the verge
by Sharon Biggs Waller
Learning on the same day she is accepted into a prestigious theater program that she is pregnant, a Texas teen is unable to find support in her home or community and plans a trip in the wake of a difficult choice that is supported by one friend and dissuaded by another.
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After the fall
by Kate Hart
Traumatized by a peer assault, 17-year-old Raychel suffers from nightmares and finds solace in a close friendship with overachiever Matt, who is unaware that she has been sleeping with his slacker brother, Andrew.
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Meet the sky
by McCall Hoyle
A prospective veterinary student determined to support her mother and sister in the aftermath of a disabling accident is separated from her family during a hurricane evacuation and trapped on the Outer Banks with a reckless boy who once broke her heart. Simultaneous eBook.
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Imagine us happy
by Jennifer Yu
A high school junior struggling with near-debilitating depression unexpectedly bonds with a senior boy who understands what she is going through and starts to neglect her responsibilities before a dramatic spiral reveals her new friend's own scars.
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Just a girl
by Carrie Mesrobian
Struggling with societal conventions that frown on her sexual activities at the same time her estranged parents begin living together again, high school senior Rianne becomes increasingly determined to escape her small town and pursue a relationship with a compassionate Russian student.
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Eliza and Her Monsters
by Francesca Zappia
When the anonymous teen creator of a wildly popular webcomic is tempted by a school newcomer to pursue real-world relationships, everything she has worked so hard to build crumbles in the wake of their highly publicized romance.
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How it ends
by Catherine Lo
Attractive, confident Annie and star student Jessie forge an instant friendship in spite of their differences only to be torn apart during a tumultuous sophomore year of bullying, boys and betrayal.
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The girl who fell
by S. M. Parker
When Zephyr falls in love with a new boy in school, Alec, their passionate romance takes a dangerous and possessive turn when he begins manipulating Zephyr, causing her to lose control over her life
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Highly illogical behavior
by John Corey Whaley
An agoraphobic teen who has not left his house for three years is sought out by an ambitious girl determined to get into a top-tier psychology program by treating him and earning a scholarship, a plan that is challenged by their growing bond.
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The sacred lies of Minnow Bly
by Stephanie Oakes
Losing everything including her family, her hands and her ability to trust after spending 12 years in a cult, a traumatized Minnow struggles to find her voice in juvenile detention in the aftermath of her leader's death.
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Three day summer
by Sarvenaz Tash
Two teens—an ambivalent boy and a medical volunteer—fall in love during a three-day summer community music festival that challenges them to push their boundaries and reconsider their life ambitions.
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Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school
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The gulf
by Adam De Souza
"Ever since Oli found a pamphlet for a remote island commune as a kid, it's all she can think about. Now that she's nearing the end of high school, feeling frustrated with the mounting pressure to choose a career and follow a path she has no interest in,the desire to escape it all has been steadily increasing. Everything comes to a head when Oli's relationship with her best friend goes south and she claps back at a school bully with more than just words. Oli flees to find the commune on a Gulf Island off the coast of Vancouver, taking with her Milo, who can't help but hide his feelings behind the safety of a video camera, and Alvin, a shy teen who sees more than he lets on. Behind them trails Liam, Oli's ex-best-friend and sometimes love interest, who wants to apologize for the way things went down. All four are grappling with a world that cannot be changed... and simply trying to find their place in it"
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Freshman year
by Sarah Mai
Chronicles the constant angst, hilarity, and self-doubt enmeshed in the experience of going away to college--all through the eyes of an eighteen-year-old burgeoning comics artist
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Bunt! : striking out on financial aid
by Ngozi Ukazu
"Molly Bauer's first year of college is not the picture-perfect piece of art she'd always envisioned. On day one at PICA, Molly discovers that-through some horrible twist of fate-her full-ride scholarship has vanished! But the ancient texts (PICA's dustyfinancial aid documents) reveal a loophole. If Molly and 9 other art students win a single game of softball, they'll receive a massive athletic scholarship. Can Molly's crew of ragtag artists succeed in softball without dropping the ball?"
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Punk rock karaoke
by Bianca Xunise
"When the realities of post-grad life interfere with their dreams of breaking into the music industry with their garage punk band, Ariel, Michele and Gael garner the attention of a fellow punk and local icon who takes an interest in their talent.
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A map to the sun
by Sloane Leong
High schooler Ren and her old friend Luna, who returned to Los Angeles after moving away and losing touch, join the new girls basketball team and bond with their teammates through their struggles off the court
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Speak : the graphic novel
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Adapted by the author and featuring artwork by an Eisner Award winner, a graphic novel edition of the award-winning novel follows the experiences of a girl who is rendered an outcast for her role in breaking up an end-of-summer party during which she was raped by a popular boy.
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