Juvenile Fiction

Trigger
Susan Vaught
Jersey Hatch can't remember why he tried to kill himself. Coming out of rehab for the first time in a year, broken in both mind and body, Jersey must piece his life back together, step by painful step-from relearning to tie his own shoelaces, to graduating high school, to repairing old friendships. With a fresh, compelling, and unique literary voice, Susan Vaught thrusts readers directly into the bitterly funny head of Jersey Hatch. An eye-opening story that expertly navigates the triumph of family, the depths of despair, and the humor of the most mundane details of life. Reviews «"The interior landscape revealed through Jersey's unreliable yet sympathetic narration is dense, rhythmic, repetitious and fragmented, granting the reader credible entrée into a damaged mind. Despite its somber character, the story never descends into heavy-handed message and has nicely placed touches of humor in a story that is both engrossing and excruciating, An original and meaningful work that provokes thought about action, consequence, redemption and renewal."-Booklist, starred review «"The portrayal of brain damage is precise, comprehensible (but never condescending), and seamlessly woven into Jersey's narrative voice, itself a masterful reflection of his internal chaos that conveys both emotional and neurological stumbling blocks by embedding them in the language itself. Poignantly affirming of life and love even in the face of overwhelming loss, this is a haunting tragicomic drama of grief and renewal."-Horn Book, starred review "A worthwhile read."-Kirkus Reviews www.wellgroomedbook.com In this one-of-a-kind survival guide to "the big day," newlywed Peter Scott candidly reveals all the wedding preparation do's and don'ts. Covering everything from choosing the perfect location to hiring the right photographer to questions that are too stupid to ask, even for a man ("Where do the centerpieces go?), Well Groomed tackles just about any scenario t
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For Now
Gayle Friesen
Jes desperately needs something solid to hold onto. In Losing Forever, she learned to accept the inevitability of change. But the change is moving at a heartbreaking pace and her world shifts by the day. The date with boy-next-door Sam shows that even the most awkward moment can always get more awkward. At home, Jes's stepsister, the beautiful and seemingly well-adjusted Angela, is clearly a favorite. When Jes's mother announces she is pregnant and the new baby will need a bedroom, one thing's certain -- it won't be Angela who moves. There's lots of uncertainty in Jes's life, but the biggest uncertainty of all is love. Everyone has a different opinion on it. Jes's teacher says that love is about reuniting what was once divided -- this from a guy who's going through a divorce. If anything's for sure, it's that love is never predictable, always confusing and may hurt sometimes. But, as Jes begins to see, no one ever gives up on it.
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Big Fat Manifesto
Susan Vaught
Jamie is a senior in high school and, like so many kids in that year, doing too much―including trying to change the world―and fighting for her rights as a very fat girl. And not quietly: she's writing a column every week in the paper with her thoughts and fears and gripes. As her column raises all kinds of questions, so too, must she find her own private way in her world, with love popping up in an unexpected place, and satisfaction in her size losing ground to real frustration. Tapping into her own experience losing weight, her training as a psychotherapist, and the current fascination in the media for teens who are trying drastic weight-loss measures including surgery, Susan Vaught's searing and hilarious prose will grip readers of all sizes, leaving them eager to hear more.
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The Sweet,Terrible,GloriousYear I Truly,Completely Lost It
Lisa Shanahan
IN MY FAMILY, when anyone rides the wave of their emotions, we say they're chucking a birkett. When the emotion drives out all common sense, we say they're chucking a big one. The telltale signs are: flaming cheeks, shortness of breath, bulging eyes, and a prolonged illogical outburst.Gemma Stone is convinced that it's always unseemly to chuck a birkett and that it's actually insane to chuck one in front of a complete stranger. But that was before she fell for a boy who barely knows she exists, before she auditioned for the school play, before she met the family of freaks her sister Debbie is marrying into, before the unpredictable Raven De Head took an interest in her, and before she realized that at the right time and for the right reason, a birkett could be a beautiful thing.
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The Hound of Rowan
Henry H. Neff, Henry H. Neff
MAX MCDANIELS LIVES a quiet life in the suburbs of Chicago, until the day he stumbles upon a mysterious Celtic tapestry. Many strange people are interested in Max and his tapestry. His discovery leads him to Rowan Academy, a secret school where great things await him.But dark things are waiting, too. When Max learns that priceless artworks and gifted children are disappearing, he finds himself in the crossfire of an ancient struggle between good and evil. To survive, he'll have to rely on a network of agents and mystics, the genius of his roommate, and the frightening power awakening within him.
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The Hollywood Sisters: Caught on Tape
Mary Wilcox
JEREMY. :) ALEX. :( HEATHCLIFF?Now that we're living in Hollywood, Eva thinks anything is possible - including casting the part of my boyfriend! As for the players: one's an actor (bad sign), one's a snobby rich kid (worse sign), and one doesn't even exist (stop sign). Guess who my sister picked?
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Slam
Nick Hornby
At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones's girlfriend Alicia gets pregnant and Sam's life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically, so Sam turns to Hawk's autobiography for answers.
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Manderley Prep
Carol Culver
Welcome to Manderley Prep, the most exclusive school on the West Coast. Every girl needs a BFF-more than one, if possible. But for scholarship girl Cindy Ellis, finding new BFFs isn't easy when she leaves shabby Castle High for Manderley Prep-where the rich and famous send their children to learn how to scratch and claw their way to the top. Cindy's stepsisters, who also go to Manderley, are beautiful, blonde twins, and captains of the cheerleading squad. They're embarrassed to be seen with her and can't believe she's snagged the attention of the school's hot Italian transfer student, Marco. Now Cindy's not only trying to gather up a new gang of BFFs, but wondering if Marco could possibly be a potential BF.
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Seventeen
Tara Chace, Per Nilsson
Seventeen-year-old Jonatan ends up in the emergency room, where many secrets are revealed. His dad, sitting with him, starts relating all the things he should have told Jonatan a long time ago: about his own time as a seventeen-year-old hippie in the early 1970s, about how he met the rebellious girl who would become Jonatan's mother, and about the catastrophe that prevented Jonatan from seeing his dad for eleven years. Several other people also have their say, with completely different stories. It all seems to be about Jonatan, about who he is and how he became the person he is. But has he heared anything that has been said, and why is he lying here?
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Spud
John van de Ruit
In 1990, thirteen-year-old John "Spud" Milton, a prepubescent choirboy, keeps a diary of his first year at an elite, boys-only boarding school in South Africa, as he deals with bizarre housemates, wild crushes, and embarrassing parents.