In her writing for a concerned teacher, sixteen-year-old Raina reveals her troubles with a disfunctional family, life on the streets, drug abuse, and finally an unplanned pregnancy.
I know the mill has a story cos there’s something strange going on. I heard something. I’ve decided that I’m going to find out what it is later today when Ma leaves. Cos even if it is scary, we live here and we’re never leaving. So if there’s something going on, I need to know. In an old, abandoned mill, a girl and her ma take shelter from their memories of life on the streets. To the girl it’s home, her safe place, the Castle. But as her ma spins out of control and the Authorities move ever...
2020 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers—YALSA/ALA “An empathetic tale that treats homelessness with respect and makes it visible.”—Kirkus Reviews Seventeen-year-old Abby Lunde and her family are living on the streets. They had a normal life back in Omaha but, thanks to her mother’s awful mistake, they had to leave behind what little they had for a new start in Rochester. Abby tries to be an average teenager—fitting in at school, dreaming of a boyfriend, college and a career in music....
For fans of Benjamin Zephaniah, Kevin Brooks and Melvyn Burgess, a teen urban adventure from Diverse Voices author Steve Tasane.A spirited urban adventure set against the backdrop of a troubled care system; Oliver Twist revisited for fans of Benjamin Zephaniah, Kevin Brooks and Melvyn Burgess.Contemporary London – a gang of shoplifters up Seven Sisters Rd, snatching smartphones and stealing identities... a ‘family’ of boys long ago lost in the system. Angel-faced Alfi Spar has fled the Tendernes...
In an alternate reality a lot like our world, every person's physical size is directly proportional to their wealth. The poorest of the poor are the size of rats, and billionaires are the size of skyscrapers.Warner and his sister Prayer are destitute - and tiny. Their size is not just demeaning but dangerous: day and night they face mortal dangers that bigger, richer people don't ever have to think about, from being mauled by cats to their house getting stepped on. There are no cars or phones bu...
Teens Sully, Hunter, Dom, and Mandy team up in a race against unscrupulous billionaire CEO Alex Holliday to locate a collectible sphere, which may have a very steep price.
Michelle and her little siblings Cass and Denny are African-American and living on the poverty line in urban Baltimore, struggling to keep it together with their mom in jail and only Michelle s part-time job at the Taco Bell to sustain them. Leah and her stepbrother Tim are white and middle class from suburban Maryland, with few worries beyond winning lacrosse games and getting college applications in on time. Michelle and Leah only have one thing in common: Buck Devereaux, the biological father...
From Natalie D. Richards, the New York Times bestselling author of mystery books for teens, comes a pulse-pounding thriller about two teens who uncover something sinister, perfect for fans of Natasha Preston and Karen McManus.Mallory didn't want to leave home, but it wasn't safe to stay. So she sleeps at her best friend's house and spends the rest of her time at the library, doing her online schoolwork and figuring out what comes next. Because she's not going live in fear like her mother.Spencer...
The powerful and long-anticipated companion to The Skin I'm In, Sharon Flake's bestselling modern classic, presents the unflinching story of Char, a young woman trapped in the underworld of human trafficking. My feet are heavy as stones when I walk up the block wondering why I can't find my old self. Char has always had to be tough. But now the hard edges that have always driven people away are all the protection she has against the wo...
After walking for days across the harsh Brazilian landscape only to be rejected by his last living relative, Samuel finds his options for survival are dwindling fast - until he comes to the hollow head of a statue, perfect for a boy to crawl into and hide...Whilst sheltering, Samuel realises that he can hear the villagers' whispered prayers to Saint Anthony - confessing lost loves, hopes and fears - and he begins to wonder if he ought to help them out a little. When Samuel's advice hits the mar...
Nora, a fifteen-year-old Mexican girl, faces the challenges of being an illegal immigrant in Texas when she and her mother cross the border in search of Nora's father.
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal Boy lives in a caravan on his own in the woods. His dad, John, is in prison and promises to get out soon. All the boy needs to do is survive alone for a little while longer. But dark forces are circling – like the dangerous man in the Range Rover, who is looking for his stolen money. And then there are the ancient forces that have lain asleep in the woods for an age...
Ryan’s career is over. After winning a TV talent show and becoming a teen sensation, his fame has spiralled into addiction, embarrassing headlines and career suicide. Now his image-obsessed stepdad wants him at home, back in school and under his thumb.However, a chance meeting with the enigmatic Toni offers him a fresh start in a new city. Before long he has reinvented himself, made real friends and is playing real music in Toni’s band. Despite living in a hostel, busking for his wages and livin...
Raised by an unstable father who keeps the family constantly on the move, Sam Border hasn't been in a classroom since the second grade. He's always been the rock for his younger brother Riddle, who stopped speaking long ago and instead makes sense of the world through his strange and intricate drawings. It's said that the two boys speak with one voice-and that voice is Sam's. Then, Sam meets Emily Bell, and everything changes. The two share an immediate and intense attraction, and soon Sam and R...
I Am the Minotaur (Super-Readable Rollercoasters)
by Anthony McGowan
When Dan and his family go from middle class to homeless, issues of injustice rise to the forefront in this relatable, timely novel from Todd Strasser. It seems like Dan has it all. He’s a baseball star who hangs with the popular crowd and dates the hottest girl in school. Then his family loses their home. Forced to move into the town’s Tent City, Dan feels his world shifting. His friends try to pretend that everything’s cool, but they’re not the ones living among the homeless. As Dan struggl...
