Showing 1–44 of 44 books
- List: Best Fiction for Young Adults
- List: Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
- Genre: Realistic Fiction
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Allegedly
The jury said she did it...the media said she did it....only nine years old and convicted of killing a baby girl, Mary didn't say anything. Six years later, a pregnant Mary finally wants speak up and clear her name, so that her own baby is not taken away. -
Au Revoir Crazy European Chick
One exchange student + 1 borrowed Jaguar + 5 assassinations = 1 epic prom night -
Bad Boy
Taken from her foster family and placed back into a group home, Kate thinks she has found a champion in her boyfriend Percy. -
Bang
Sebastian and Aneesa create a YouTube pizza making show. For the first time, Sebastian feels like he is in a judge free zone. Because Aneesa is new in town, she doesn't know his secret...the terrible, horrific secret that he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister when he was four years old. -
Beneath a Meth Moon
Laurel's heartbreak triggers her downward spiral into destruction. -
Booked
Soccer star Nick Hall is on top until his parents shatter his world. How will Nick put the pieces back together? -
Bronxwood
Too much pressure, too many choices, not enough options. -
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Dear Martin
Justyce McAllister is captain of the Braselton Prep debate team and an honor roll student. But after being profiled by the police and ending up in handcuffs, Justyce turns to the legacy of Dr. King, hoping King's teachings can help him navigate today's world. But when Justyce and his best friend are caught in the cross-hairs of a violent misunderstanding, Justyce is forced to deal with the media fallout that threatens to destroy his future. -
Drag Teen
A drag competition offers JT the opportunity to break out of his small-town Florida life and live his dream onstage in wig, heels, and false eyelashes. -
Dumplin'
After deciding to enter Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Beauty Pageant, Willowdean and her friends defy expectations based on beauty and gain a greater sense of confidence and self worth. -
Exposed
Liz and Kate have been best friends for years, but when Kate accuses Liz's brother of raping her, Liz finds that losing a friend--and remaining loyal to your family-- can be difficult. -
The Final Four
It all comes down to the last two seconds of the game. -
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
During Gabi's senior year of high school, she navigates her family's ideas about “good girls” and “bad girls” while figuring out who she wants to be. -
Ghost
Ghost lands a spot on an exclusive track team promising to stay out of trouble, but he finds it harder than he thought. -
Girl, Stolen
Sick with pneumonia, blind teenager Cheyenne is waiting in the back seat of her stepmother's car when someone steals it, effectively—and unintentionally—kidnapping her. -
Glimpse
Hope keeps having dreams about crying. It's no wonder: her father is dead, her mother clearly has issues, and her sister Liz has been institutionalized after trying to kill herself. -
The Hate U Give
Traumatized after witnessing the violent death of a friend, Starr searches for her voice as she moves between her black neighborhood and predominately white private school. This emotional novel, inspired by volatile race relations in America today, explores the importance of family, friendship, identity, and the courage to seek justice. -
Highly Illogical Behavior
Solomon Reed hasn't stepped out of his house in three years; Lisa Praytor wants nothing more than to leave their town. Solomon may be her ticket out. -
How it Went Down
When Tariq, a black teenager, is gunned down by a white man, everybody has a different perspective on how it went down. -
I Am J
J, who feels like a boy mistakenly born as a girl, runs away from his best friend who has rejected him and the parents he thinks do not understand him when he finally decides that it is time to be who he really is.
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I Will Save You
Kidd's life is getting back on track at the beach, after time spent in a group home, but then Devon is back to cause his usual trouble. -
Island of Thieves
An unexpected adventure with Uncle Harvey will leave Tom's life changed forever..That is if they can make it out alive! -
Kindness for Weakness
Desperate for his brother's approval, James takes the rap for a drug dealing charge. Once incarcerated, James ends up fighting for his life. -
Lily and Dunkin
Lily and Dunkin struggle with gender identity, mental illness, and the eighth grade. -
Long Way Down
The rules: don't cry, don't snitch...DO get revenge. A sixty second elevator ride is a long way down for Will to decide if he should use the gun shoved into the back of his jeans to avenge his brother's murder. -
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Meet Greg: an aspiring wallflower and parttime moviemaker. Meet Earl: Greg's best friend who will round kick you in the head if you mention his height. Meet Rachel: the dying girl.
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Moxie
Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. Viv's mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the '90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother's past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She's just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution. -
Not If I See You First
Parker doesn't forgive, especially when someone takes advantage of her blindness. Is there someone worth a second chance? -
Nothing
When a classmate tells them “nothing matters,” his peers reinforce the opposite, sacrificing what matters to them in progressively intense challenges, assembling a pile of meaning. -
Overturned
When Nikki's casino boss father's conviction is overturned, he is released from death row. After her father is killed shortly after returning home, Nikki takes on card sharks, bikers, and alleged mobsters to avenge her father's death and imprisonment. -
Reality Boy
Twelve years ago, Gerald Faust became known as “The Crapper” after defecating on reality TV. Now 17, he struggles to control his persistent anger and allow himself to emotionally connect. -
Recovery Road
Maddie struggles in rehab until she meets Stewart and falls in love. It's only when they get out of rehab and into the real world that the true challenges begin. -
Refugee
Three countries in strife...three different periods in time...three families seeking one universal goal: FREEDOM. Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud offer realistic, fictionalized accounts of attempts to find refuge from 1930's Nazi Germany, Castro's 1994 Cuba, and war torn Syria in 2015. -
Sadie
A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she's left behind. And an ending you won't be able to stop talking about. Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him. When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late. Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page. -
Scrawl
In detention, eighth grade bully, Tod, journals thoughts and experiences exposing the bleak private agonies of life behind his actions. -
The Serpent King
One is the son of a snake-handling preacher serving time in prison. One is a fashionista with New York dreams. One escapes an abusive life in fantasy novels. These high-school seniors in a small Tennessee town consider the options for their future. -
Some Girls Are
Regina used to be a member of the Fearless Five but is now being frozen out by her friends and must find acceptance among the peers she used to terrorize.
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Something Like Normal
Travis, a young Marine, deals with life at home after his best friend is killed in Afghanistan. -
Symptoms of Being Human
Is Riley Cavanaugh a boy or a girl? The answer is yes. In this ground-breaking exploration of what it's like to be a gender fluid teen, Riley grapples with self-identity, balancing that identity with family expectations, and standing up to bullies. -
Watched
Marina Budhos' YA novel explores society's fear and suspicion of those deemed Other – most especially young Muslim men. Naeem is one, and he's always being watched — by his parents, by the neighbors, by the cops, by his little brother, by surveillance cameras. However, an arrest for shoplifting turns into an opportunity for the Watched to become the Watcher. -
When We Collided
Vivi and Jonah are both struggling with more than the average high school student, and are instantly drawn to each other. They fall in love, but is their love enough to keep the darkness at bay? -
Where You'll Find Me
Stuck living with her dad and step mom after her mother's suicide attempt, Anna discovers acceptance in the unlikeliest of places. -
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass
It doesn't take much to throw off someone's day, but when Yaqui Delgado threatens Piddy, her entire world is rocked.