A brilliantly original tale for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale and The Hazel Wood about embracing your power, facing your monsters, and loving deeply enough to transcend a century. Inspired by the author's experiences restoring Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe. "A must-read for lost souls everywhere." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Magic will burn you up. Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds hers...
From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of the Noughts & Crosses series and The Hate U Give. One fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighbourhood escalates into tragedy. 'Boys just being boys' turns out to be true only when those boys are white. Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Am...
Tricks & Traffick (Boxed Set) (Tricks, Books 1-2)
by Ellen Hopkins
"The energy. The clarity. The beauty. Elisabet Velasquez brings it all. . . . Her voice is FIRE!"—NYT bestselling and award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson An unforgettable, torrential, and hopeful debut young adult novel-in-verse that redefines what it means to "make it,” for readers of Nicholasa Mohr and Elizabeth Acevedo. Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican question asker who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment...
In this collection of eyewitness poems, the excitement and anticipation of attending the circus on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, turns to horror when a fire engulfs the circus tent, killing nearly 170 people, mostly women and children.
WINNER OF THE 2024 CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR OLDERS READERSSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ETHEL TURNER PRIZE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURESHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 UTS GLENDA ADAMS AWARD FOR NEW WRITINGThis song has a grace note,a tiny note that's there for embellishmentbut can easily be ignored,not played.Tonight, I add it in -just because.We can all do with an extra noteof grace.Grace Dalfinch is a talented violinist who longs to play contemporary music in bars, but her mum forbids her. James Crux is...
In one moment it is over. In one moment it is gone. The morning grows thin, grey and our lives- how they were- have vanished. Our lives have changed when I walk in on Lizzie my sister holding a shotgun. Twelve year old girl Hope's life is turned upside down when her older sister Lizzie becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Ever since their dad died Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age. Their mother is a reluctant and unreliable pare...
"Amid gritty free verse, Darrow interweaves beautifully crafted forms such as the villanelle, sestina and pantoum, whose intricate patterns suit Sissy's mournful voice." — Publishers Weekly For sixteen-year-old Sissy and her brother Boy, trash is a reminder of one too many sorry foster placements they've endured, a way of life they can't wait to escape. Now on the run in search of their big sister Raynell, ironically they are forced to rely on their trash-picking skills for sustenance and shelt...
A powerful novel-in-verse about how one teen boy survives the March 2011 tsunami that devastates his coastal Japanese village. “Successfully captures the raw emotions of loss, grief, and what it means to move forward.” —BuzzFeed On the day the tsunami strikes, Kai loses nearly everyone and everything he cares about. But a trip to New York to meet kids whose lives were changed by 9/11 gives him new hope and the chance to look for his estranged American father. Visiting Ground Zero on its...
Readers of Adam Silvera (They Both Die at the End) and Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X) will pull out the tissues for this tender, quirky story of one seventeen-year-old boy's journey through first love and first heartbreak, guided by his personal hero, Oscar Wilde. Words have always been more than enough for Ken Z, but when he meets Ran at the mall food court, everything changes. Beautiful, mysterious Ran opens the door to a number of firsts for Ken: first kiss, first love. But as quickly as he...
A YALSA 2020 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers "Compelling." -School Library Journal "Moving." -Publishers Weekly "Poignant." -Kirkus Reviews A high school senior attempts to salvage her reputation among her Ivy League-obsessed classmates by writing their college admissions essays and in the process learns big truths about herself in this mesmerizing debut novel-in-verse, perfect for fans of Gayle Forman and Elizabeth Acevedo. Nic Chen refuses to spend her senior year branded as...
Longlisted for the National Book Award In this stirring young adult novel-in-verse from award-winning author Margarita Engle, love and conservation intertwine as two teens go on a “transformative journey celebrating the power of overcoming personal struggles to make a lasting impact” (Kirkus Reviews). Ana and her mother have been living out of their car ever since her militant father became one of the FBI’s most wanted. Leandro has struggled with debilitating anxiety since his family fled Cub...
A dazzling story told in verse of sixteen-year-old Declan Lynch and the girl whose centuries-old voice rings in his head. One day, Declan Lynch, a restless teenager, starts hearing a girl’s voice inside his head. Eventually, he even begins to see her. Though he’s not certain the girl, Rebecca, is real, Declan finds himself falling for her. She shows him visions of places and people he has never seen — places he feels compelled to find in hopes of meeting her. His quest takes him to County Sl...
Sixteen-year-old James Whitman has been yawping (a la Whitman) at his abusive father ever since he kicked his older sister out of the house. James's painful struggle with anxiety and depression - along with his ongoing quest to understand what led to his sister's exile - make for a heart-rending read, but his wild, exuberant Whitmanization of the world and keen sense of humour keep this emotionally charged novel buoyant. A Morris Award Honor Book.
A contemplative novel in verse that questions what it means to lose everything you once treasured and rediscover yourself, falling in love along the way. Chloe Brooks has only ever known what it's like to have everything. Her parents' wealth and place in society meant she had all she wanted, and friends everywhere she turned. Until it all crashes down: Her father is arrested in the middle of the night, under investigation for fraud. Bankrupt and facing foreclosure, Chloe must forgo her lavish...
Infused with magical realism, this story blends first love and political intrigue with a quest for justice and self-determination in 1930s Haiti. Sixteen-year-old Lucille hopes to one day open a school alongside her best friend where girls just like them can learn what it means to be Haitian: to learn from the mountains and the forests around them, to carve, to sew, to draw, and to sing the songs of the Mapou, the sacred trees that dot the island nation. But when her friend vanishes without a t...
An unflinching, honest novel in verse about a teenager's journey into the slam poetry scene and the dangerous new relationship that could threaten all her dreams. From the award-winning poet and author of HOME IS NOT A COUNTRY. A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Bad girl. No matter how hard Samira tries, she can’t shake her reputation. She’s never gotten the benefit of the doubt—not from her mother or the aunties who watch her like a hawk. Samira is determined to have a perfect summer...
"This funny and poignant novel celebrates the power of writing to help young people make sense of their lives and unlock and confront their problems." — School Library Journal (starred review) When MVP Kevin Boland gets the news that he has mono and won’t be seeing a baseball field for a while, he suddenly finds himself scrawling a poem down the middle of a page in his journal. To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad’s den — and before Kevin knows it, he’s writing in verse about st...
