Showing 1–22 of 22 books
- List: Best Fiction for Young Adults
- List: Rainbow Book List - Young Adult Fiction
- Genre: Realistic Fiction
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Afterworlds
With a contract in hand for her YA novel, eighteen-year-old Darcy Patel arrives in New York City. Over the course of a year, Darcy finishes her book, faces critique, and falls in love in love with the enigmatic Imogene. Woven into Darcy's personal story is her novel, Afterworlds, a suspenseful thriller about a teen who slips into the “Afterworld” to survive a terrorist attack. -
Beast
Insecure about his unusually large and hairy appearance, 15-year-old Dylan feels like a freak until he meets brave and beautiful Jamie, who accepts and loves him as he is. But when he realizes she is transgender, can he return the favor? -
Dear Rachel Maddow
Brynn Haper's life has one steadying force--Rachel Maddow. She watches her daily, and after writing to Rachel for a school project--and actually getting a response--Brynn starts drafting e-mails to Rachel but never sending them. Brynn tells Rachel about breaking up with her first serious girlfriend, about her brother Nick's death, about her passive mother and even worse stepfather, about how she's stuck in remedial courses at school and is considering dropping out. Then Brynn is confronted with a moral dilemma. One student representative will be allowed to have a voice among the administration in the selection of a new school superintendent. Brynn's archnemesis, Adam, and ex-girlfriend, Sarah, believe only Honors students are worthy of the selection committee seat. Brynn feels all students deserve a voice. When she runs for the position, the knives are out. So she begins to ask herself: What Would Rachel Maddow Do? -
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. -
Everything Leads To You
Emi and her best friend Charlotte are invited to stay at Emi's brother's apartment in LA for the summer after graduation, with one condition: they must do something “epic” while he's gone. When they discover a cryptic letter from a world-famous celebrity, Emi thinks that this mystery might be what they're looking for. -
Girl Made of Stars
"I need Owen to explain this. Because yes, I do know that Owen would never do that, but I also know Hannah would never lie about something like that." Mara and Owen are about as close as twins can get. So when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can the brother she loves really be guilty of such a violent crime? Torn between the family she loves and her own sense of right and wrong, Mara is feeling lost, and it doesn't help that things have been strained with her ex-girlfriend and best friend since childhood, Charlie. As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie navigate this new terrain, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits in her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault. -
Girl Mans Up
All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she's always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she's trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she's not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty. But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth--that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she'll have to man up. -
The Great American Whatever
After spending 6 months alone grieving over the loss of his sister, Quinn's best friend forces him out to a party where he meets and falls for the older and more experienced Amir. -
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. -
I'll Give You the Sun
Artistic twins Jude and Noah each have only half the story of why they broke apart. Their art becomes a force of its own as they negotiate love, loss, lies and the possibility of reuniting their lives. -
Leah on the Offbeat
Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier's best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst. When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn't always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she's the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn't know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It's hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended. -
More Happy Than Not
Aaron Soto is a sixteen-year-old Puerto Rican living in the Bronx, happy in his relationships with his girlfriend and childhood friends, despite his father's recent suicide. When Aaron starts to fall for a guy and things go terribly wrong, how far will he go to erase the horrible memories of his past? -
Odd One Out
Courtney "Coop" Cooper Dumped. Again. And normally I wouldn't mind. But right now, my best friend and source of solace, Jupiter Sanchez, is ignoring me to text some girl. Rae Evelyn Chin I assumed "new girl" would be synonymous with "pariah," but Jupiter and Courtney make me feel like I'm right where I belong. I also want to kiss him. And her. Which is . . . perplexing. Jupiter Charity-Sanchez The only thing worse than losing the girl you love to a boy is losing her to your boy. That means losing him, too. I have to make a move. . . . One story. Three sides. No easy answers. -
Picture Us in the Light
Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined. Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny's lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can't stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan. When Danny digs deeper into his parents' past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him. -
The Porcupine of Truth
Carson is stuck in Billings, Montana, when he meets Aisha. The two head out for an epic road trip that will change both their lives. Their adventure helps them find a community, a history, and a family. -
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Closeted high schooler Simon Spier is being blackmailed—either help Martin Addison get together with the girl of his dreams (Simon's good friend) or Simon's sexuality and email romance with mystery classmate “Blue” will be made public. Follow Simon as he comes out, handles his bully, and navigates how to be with “Blue” in real life. -
The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles)
Seventeen, fashion-obsessed, and gay, Abby Ives has always been content playing the sidekick in other people's lives. While her friends and sister have plunged headfirst into the world of dating and romances, Abby has stayed focused on her plus-size style blog and her dreams of taking the fashion industry by storm. When she lands a prized internship at her favorite local boutique, she's thrilled to take her first step into her dream career. She doesn't expect to fall for her fellow intern, Jordi Perez. Abby knows it's a big no-no to fall for a colleague. She also knows that Jordi documents her whole life in photographs, while Abby would prefer to stay behind the scenes. Then again, nothing is going as expected this summer. She's competing against the girl she's kissing to win a paid job at the boutique. She's somehow managed to befriend Jax, a lacrosse-playing bro type who needs help in a project that involves eating burgers across L.A.'s eastside. Suddenly, she doesn't feel like a sidekick. Is it possible Abby's finally in her own story? But when Jordi's photography puts Abby in the spotlight, it feels like a betrayal, rather than a starring role. Can Abby find a way to reconcile her positive yet private sense of self with the image that other people have of her? -
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. -
Unbecoming
As if kissing her best friend and then being shunned by all her school mates isn't bad enough, now the grandmother Katie didn't know existed is living with them. But revelations of her mother's and grandmother's histories soon offer insights into her own life that she couldn't have predicted. -
What If It's Us
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it's that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn't be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend's things. But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them? Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited. But what if they can't quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third? What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn't try hard enough? What if life really isn't like a Broadway play? But what if it is? -
When Everything Feels Like the Movies.
There is no such thing as bad press, especially to small town middle-schooler Jude Rothesay. Loosely based on the on the real-life story of Larry Fobes King, this brutal novel explores the life of a glamorous boy who is always in the spotlight. -
You Know Me Well.
Mark's boyfriend ditches him to flirt with older guys, and Kate runs away from meeting the girl of her dreams. Instead of finding themselves alone, they find each other for the kick off of San Francisco's Pride Week.