Sixteen-year-old Victoria "Tori" Spring is the personification of angst, slowly slipping, day by day, into the depths of despair. On a good day, she can convince herself she feels nothing. Her best friend has become preoccupied with boys; her brother, Charlie, is recovering from an episode of mental illness and attempted suicide; a former childhood friend has suddenly resurfaced with expectations that she can't fulfill; and her mother cannot tear...

A year ago, Gage survived a car accident that killed his best friend, Hunter. Without the person who always brought out the best in him, Gage doesn't know who he is. He likes working as a fry cook and loves his small-town friends and family, but they weren't in the wreck and he can't tell them how much he's still hurting. He just wants to forget all his pain and move on. So when his stepdad shows him a dream job opening in one of his idol's restaurants,...

"Claudia's not worried when she hears her newest baby-sitting charge, Betsy Sobak, is a great practical joker. After all, how much harm can one little girl do? Plenty. Claudia breaks her leg as a result of one of Betsy's mean jokes... and now she's talking about quitting the club. Baby-sitting, she says, is just too dangerous. Kristy thinks Betsy needs to be taught a lesson. She also thinks the Baby-sitters are just the ones to do it. Watch out, Betsy...

In this book, readers will learn about peer pressure, ways they can cope with it and help stop it, and how to help others who are experiencing it. Social and emotional learning (SEL) concepts support growth mindset throughout, while Grow with Goals and Try This! activities further reinforce the content. Vibrant, fullcolor photos and carefully leveled text engage young readers as they learn more about overcoming peer pressure. Also includes sidebars,...

Billie is a 15-year-old girl who fantasizes Billie Holiday as a sort of fairy godmother. Billie has to navigate the evolving challenges of her life while she plays mother to her 11-year-old brother, Nico. They meet up with another adolescent, run away from home, and together roam the area free from their parents' watchful eye. They discover freedom and enchantment among the boats and railway tracks of New Bedford, Massachusetts. They fantasize about...

"Musical prodigy Rosie stops playing the violin, upsetting her ambitious mother but making room in her life for new experiences, including a glitch in space-time that lets her meet her mom as a twelve-year-old"--

"For fans of Donna Barba Higuera's Lupe Wong Won't Dance and Aida Salazar's The Moon Within, comes Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice -- a contemporary middle grade novel full of spunk and activist heart. Manuela Mani Semilla wants two things: to get her period, and to thwart her mom's plan of taking her to Guatemala, a place that has always been more of a mystery than an answer. Mani can't imagine leaving behind Las Nerdas, her band of misfit friends,...

"Thanks to her Ye-Ye's epic scavenger hunts, thirteen-year-old Ruby Chu knows San Francisco like the back of her hand. But after his death, she feels lost, and it seems like everyone--from her best friends to her older sister--is abandoning her. After Ruby gets in major trouble at school, her parents decide she has to spend the summer at a local senior center, with her grandmother, Nai-Nai, and Nai-Nai's friends for company. When a new boy from Ruby's...

Follows thirteen-year-old neurodivergent Maudie during an eventful summer in California with her father, where she struggles with whether to share a terrible secret about life with her mom and stepdad.

"Stress Less teaches concrete skills for managing stress and anxiety, organized into common "stress domains" such as family, friends, dating, school, and media"--