Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein
“As if her parents' divorce and sister's departure for college weren't
bad enough, fourteen-year-old Ricky Bloom has just been diagnosed with a
life-changing chronic illness. Her days consist of cursing everyone out,
skipping school--which has become a nightmare--daydreaming about her crush,
Julio, and trying to keep her parents from realizing just how bad things are.
But she can't keep her ruse up forever. Lured out of her funk by a quirky
classmate, Oliver, who's been there too, Ricky's porcupine exterior begins to
shed some spines. Maybe asking for help isn't the worst thing in the world.
Maybe accepting circumstances doesn't mean giving up.” –Amazon
Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.
“A lengthy California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions,
turning Alyssa's quiet suburban street into a war zone, and she is forced to
make impossible choices if she and her brother are to survive.” –Publisher
Frankly In Love by David Yoon
“High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo-his term for Korean-American
kids who find themselves caught between their parents' traditional expectations
and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it
comes to romance-"Date Korean"-which proves complicated when Frank
falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful-and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song
is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they'll pretend to date
each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it's the perfect plan,
but in the end, Frank and Joy's fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he
ever really understood love-or himself-at all.” –WorldCat
Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller
"On the very night Camille learns she got into a prestigious theater
program, she also finds out she's pregnant. At her most vulnerable, Camille
reaches out to Annabelle, a girl she only barely knows from the theater.
Annabelle agrees to drive her wherever she needs to go; best friend Bea doesn't
agree with Camille's decision, but decides to come with. Over the course of a
thousand miles, friendships will be tested and dreams will be challenged.” –Publisher
King, Queens and In–Betweens by Tanya Boteju
“After a bewildering encounter at her small town's annual summer
festival, seventeen-year-old biracial, queer Nima plunges into the world of
drag, where she has the chance to explore questions of identity, acceptance,
self-expression, and love.” –WorldCat
The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason
“On one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley Langston's life changes
forever. At a party she discovers her younger sister, Audrey, hooking up with
her boyfriend, Mike-and she abandons them both in a rage. When Mike drunkenly
attempts to drive Audrey home, he crashes and Audrey ends up in a coma. Now
Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her
ex-boyfriend (who is relatively unscathed) has a drinking problem. So it's a
surprise that she finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbor and childhood
friend who's recently out of rehab and still wrestling with his own demons. At
first Harley doesn't want to get too close to him. But as Audrey awakens and
slowly recovers, Raf starts to show Harley a path forward that she never would
have believed possible-one guided by honesty, forgiveness, and redemption.” –WorldCat
The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena
“Seventeen-year-old Susan Thomas's future is set. Or so everyone else
says. No one knows that her parents are on the verge of a divorce in Canada
after years of a happy marriage in Saudi Arabia. Or that Susan wants to be an
artist and not a doctor or engineer. Susan has no intention of letting them
know. She can't afford to lose focus, not at a new school in a different
country, when so much of her future is already at stake.” –WorldCat
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
“At the Castellana Hilton in 1957 Madrid, eighteen-year-old Daniel
Matheson connects with Ana Moreno through photography and fate as Daniel
discovers the incredibly dark side of the city under Generalissimo Franco's
rule.” –Publisher
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
“Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the
Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up
ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than
treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the
all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is
offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To find the
ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of
experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can't yet go home. A
dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too
much. Together, they'll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the
artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might
change the world, but only if they can stay alive.” –WorldCat
Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson and Ellen Hagan
“Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends on a mission. Sick of the way that
young women are treated even at their 'progressive' New York City high school,
they decide to start a Women's Rights Club. One problem - no one shows up. That
hardly stops them. They start posting everything from videos of Chelsea
performing her poetry to Jasmine's response to being reduced to a racist and
sexist stereotype in the school's theatre department. And soon, they've gone
viral, creating a platform they never could've predicted. With such positive
support, the Women's Rights Club is also targeted by trolls. But Jasmine and
Chelsea won't let their voices - or those of the other young women in their
city - be silenced. They'll risk everything to be heard and effect change ...
but at what cost?” –WorldCat